Sunday, 2nd July - Oversley Woods (Warwickshire)
We visited Oversley Woods this afternoon. It was extremely hot and perhaps too warm for butterfly photography! We arrived about 1:40 pm. My wife and I immediately met a couple of very nice butterfly enthusiasts (Birmingham locals) – one of them (Vince) was photographing a White-Letter Hairstreak though I didn’t really get any good photos, just an i.d. shot. We had one Purple Emperor fly over us at the same spot though we didn't see any after that.
![IMG_0028 edit p small.jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 2989 times View of the main track at Oversley Woods.](./files/thumb_10035_7dce1d07b23aa157410ac6ba5fa032ab)
- View of the main track at Oversley Woods.
![IMG_0042 edit p small.jpg (616.73 KiB) Viewed 2989 times Good photographs are lovely but sometimes a poor ID shot is all you get (White-Letter Hairstreak).](./files/thumb_10035_cdfe111bff5ea8d13af86a3c17a3d4ca)
- Good photographs are lovely but sometimes a poor ID shot is all you get (White-Letter Hairstreak).
We also saw quite a few Purple Hairstreaks, though they were pretty much staying in the Oaks about 15 feet up, or doing the usual ‘twiddling about’ that they do, which normally guarantees no photographs. The woods were very full of Ringlets, White Admirals and Silver-Washed Fritillaries, though all these butterflies especially the Fritillaries were really hyperactive in the heat. I only managed to get a few photos of the Silver-Washed Fritillaries as we were leaving just before 5pm when the weather was cooling a little.
![IMG_0072 edit p small.jpg (602.82 KiB) Viewed 2989 times Large Skippers were the only butterflies that weren't hyperactive in the heat.](./files/thumb_10035_621715d05bca099559df05bccb79f013)
- Large Skippers were the only butterflies that weren't hyperactive in the heat.
![IMG_0078 edit small.JPG (668.15 KiB) Viewed 2989 times One of the many Silver-Washed Fritillaries darting about.](./files/thumb_10035_78310a147ac8101587897a2ba9e32100)
- One of the many Silver-Washed Fritillaries darting about.
![IMG_0094 edit p small.jpg (673.56 KiB) Viewed 2989 times It was only by late afternoon that the Silver-Washed Fritillaries slowed down a little.](./files/thumb_10035_45127867494158fe8047093cb7a3d82e)
- It was only by late afternoon that the Silver-Washed Fritillaries slowed down a little.
I think Oversley is a lovely gem of a forest. There were quite a few species there today: Red Admiral, Comma, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, White-Letter Hairstreak, Purple Hairstreak, Large White, Small White, Marbled White, Silver-Washed Fritillary, Purple Emperor, White Admiral, Large Skipper and Speckled Wood. I’m still not seeing Peacock or Small Tortoiseshells though. We also had a pleasant stop on the way home at Gloucester Services (Farm shop) – where there is a pond behind the services and Swallows come in and skim over the pond (we also saw a Kestrel there).
I hope everyone else enjoyed a nice Sunday,
Michael