To reach the woodland carpark, you have to pass through two gates so after hopping in and out of the car four times, I found a space to park, some what surprised to find only another couple of cars there. I had expected it to be full with people catching up with their sightings, but on reflection, maybe Friday isn't the best day, and with Saturday forecast sunny too, people may be delaying their visits until tomorrow. The sun, which had disappeared behind clouds for most of my journey, re-appeared as I got to the woods and it felt warm, good for butterflies.
I've visited this site for the past couple of years, so had a good idea of where to search for butterflies. There are mown paths along the rides, which visitors are asked to keep to; this does restrict those intending to use macro photography but posed no problem for me, having brought my zoom camera.
Black hairstreaks were hard to find, though I did locate half a dozen individuals, and managed a couple of record shots. I was pleased to see a couple of white admirals, several marbled whites, and good numbers of meadow brown and large skippers, and even two dark green fritillaries, all of which were new sightings for the year. Other species seen included common blue, red admiral, comma, speckled wood and a brimstone.
With eleven species seen, including six year ticks, it was a good few hours spent in the woods, and as I left for home, the sun disappeared once more.
black hairstreak
dark green fritillary
large skipper
marbled white
meadow brown
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