It's been pretty warm these last few days and I saw that White Admirals and Silver washed fritillaries have just emerged at Ravensroost wood near Minety. So this afternoon I headed over there; on arrival I found that the small car park was being re surfaced and some new gate posts added, so I parked on the verge on the side of the country road which passes the woods. A man in an small excavator was working in the park, but he kindly stopped while I walked past and I went through the gate leading on to the main track through this woodland.
There weren't that many butterflies about, considering the sunshine, but I did see a few ringlets, my first of the year, as well as meadow browns and a couple of red admirals. Following the track along, I saw 3 silver washed fritillaries but they didn't settle, so I continued down as far as a pond which is usually a good area to look for White Admiral. White Admirals are one of my favourite butterflies, I think they look virtually tropical with black and white wing pattern. I didn't see any there but was joined by another person who recognised me from my trip to Daneway banks last week. Then two others came, one of them I also knew from Swindon.
As we chatted about all the different places we visited recently we watched a silver washed fritillary flying continuously around. It eventually settled on top of of a plant but not that close - I wished I'd brought a longer lens! We had a brief glimpse of a white admiral, but not for long. Walking back toward the car park, I saw two more, one of which was on the ground ahead of us, but as we reached it, off it went so still no photos this time.
If the sunny weather continues, I expect I will revisit this site, as it's not too far from home, so hopefully I will get some better photos.
silver washed fritillary
ringlet
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