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Hi all. I would like to pop down to Botany Bay at Chiddingford in Surrey this year to photograph the second generation of Wood Whites. Please can someone advise me when they are on the wing. Cheers.

Peter.

nomad wrote:Hi all. I would like to pop down to Botany Bay at Chiddingford in Surrey this year to photograph the second generation of Wood Whites. Please can someone advise me when they are on the wing. Cheers.

Peter.

They've just started, but are in extremely small numbers.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thank you Pete. Will their numbers build up, or is the second brood always very small

Regards Peter.

The 2nd brood is sometimes better than the first! You'll be fine

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Peter,

Chiddingfold Forest summer brood Wood White were on the wing on Saturday, 12th July; and probably a day earlier. I only saw two males on this date but by now their numbers should have increased. As Pete said, 'the second brood is sometimes better than the first', but not always in my experience locally ...

I'm sure you'll be lucky if the sun is shining.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

Many thanks Mark and Pete. I choose a fine day during the week or next weekend.

Regards Peter

Hi Peter,

i visited Chiddingfold Wood this afternoon for a couple of hours and counted at least 15 individuals, including two ovipositing females. Over the next few days their numbers should increase with new butterflies emerging.

Good luck.

All the best, Nick.

Thank you very much for the information Nick, I will hopefully make the trip this coming Saturday

I am hoping to make the trip to Botany Bay in the next few days in the hope of seeing & photographing Wood Whites, which would be a new species for me.

I have searched the forum hoping to find directions to the site, as I have never been there before, but so far I can't seem to find anything.
Please could I ask if it would be possible for someone to advise me on how to find the correct location, as all I know is that it is somewhere in Chiddingfold Forest.
I will be travelling from Kent by the way.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give,
Best regards,
Adrian

Hi Adrian,
Park at SU978348 and walk down the track towards SU984337. If you haven't already spotted them by SU981342, you soon will do, as numbers increase significantly from this point onwards. Explore other areas and you will find them there too. Either go later in the day and stay into the evening if full-on sunshine, or pick a day with periodic cloud cover .... otherwise they just won't stop for you, despite their deceptively weak flight pattern. They are just coming to peak now, so you won't have difficulty locating them.
BWs, Neil

I have often wondered why it's called Botany Bay? It is not marked on Ordnance Survey 50,000 maps but is on the 25,000 scale. Incidentally, a search on StreetMap draws a blank. so every excuse for not knowing where it is.

Does Brown Hairstreak still occur there? I saw one some 40 years ago

Jack

Many thanks for the info Neil, it is much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing them.

I spent two days last week, the Wednesday and Friday exploring Chiddingfold Forest. The Wood Whites were in good numbers along several rides. The females seem to ova-deposit from mid morning onwards and like to lay their eggs low down or under scrub and trees in the shady parts of the track edges. I watched a couple of their strange courtship displays, where the male and female face each other and flick their antennae and wings in sharp movements. I did not see the first courtship display untill the Friday afternoon and then saw another soon afterwards, just as thunderstorm approached . Not having any waterproofs, In the deluge I got a good soaking. In one place along a track on Wednesday, within ten minutes, I saw a Purple Emperor female egg-laying in the Sallows and then circle me and come down. A male Brown Hairstreak sipping nectar from a creeping-thistle and as he did this, there was a couple of Wood White males patrolling the ride edge just beneath him. I not sure where else you could see such an assemblage of rarities in Britain. A quite magical moment and very enjoyable visit. Peter.

P.S Yes Jack, the Brown Hairstreaks are still there.