Post by nomad on Jul 22, 2016 8:15:13 GMT
A Walk in the Woods.
On the hottest day of the year so far in the UK with temperature reaching 35C, I decided to walk in a large complex of damp oak and mixed woodlands in Oxfordshire. These woodlands were once part of an Royal hunting forest. In the more secluded spots of the forest there are overgrown rides which no one ever visits except for the odd forestry worker or the deer hunter. There are strange names here such as Hell coppice, Drunkard's corner and Polecat End that recall episodes from the past. Today I was hoping to make an acquaintance with the Purple Emperor, Apatura iris but there is no guarantee of finding this butterfly outside of a couple of hot spots, the best being in the Midlands. Previously, I had never had a close encounter with iris in these large woodlands.
Arriving early at 7.30am, it was already warm and windless and in the dappled shade of the late summer green wood. The butterflies were already on the wing, a female White Admiral, Limenitis camilla skimmed in and out of the the trees and for a few seconds warmed herself on a birch tree. A little while later walking down the track there was a familiar click of wings and a large male Purple Emperor with battle scars circled me and seemed really interested in this visitor who had appeared in his leafy domain. The large butterfly landed on the back of my leg and then rested in the nearby grass and that lovely purple sheen spread across his wings. Later in the day, I watched another male iris flying high around an oak tree and disturbing a few Purple Hairstreaks, Neozephyrus quercus. This common hairstreak is a real canopy specialist and rarely seen low down but today I did find an injured female resting on the main track. This stationary hairstreak had one of her eyes caked in dry mud and seemed to have abdomen damage. Perhaps she was trodden on by a dog or its walker, there were a few about. There is a pond nearby which the deer visit to drink and during hot weather the edges are churned up into a wide rim of wet mud. A few years ago, I found one Neozephyrus quercus mud puddling there.
Entering another unfrequented adjacent woodland, it was now hot and humid under the mid-day July sun and the promising track petered out and led into overgrown rides that were covered in low brambles and tussocks of grass. Here the large Fritillary, Argynnis paphia and the skipper Ochlodes venatus were in numbers. At last I found my way to the wood edge and it was a relief to climb over the barbed wire fence into the open fields beyond. At the far edge of the field, I made my way along a damp sunken green lane that was now an oven and I was enveloped in an enormous quantity of shimmering flies. I followed the lane as it climbed steadily to the ridge above with its village of thatch and stone cottages and a welcome cold beer in the 300 year old pub.
Limenitis camilla. First image is a pristine female.
Apatura iris male.
Neozephyrus quercus female.
Argynnis paphia male.
Ochlodes venatus
On the hottest day of the year so far in the UK with temperature reaching 35C, I decided to walk in a large complex of damp oak and mixed woodlands in Oxfordshire. These woodlands were once part of an Royal hunting forest. In the more secluded spots of the forest there are overgrown rides which no one ever visits except for the odd forestry worker or the deer hunter. There are strange names here such as Hell coppice, Drunkard's corner and Polecat End that recall episodes from the past. Today I was hoping to make an acquaintance with the Purple Emperor, Apatura iris but there is no guarantee of finding this butterfly outside of a couple of hot spots, the best being in the Midlands. Previously, I had never had a close encounter with iris in these large woodlands.
Arriving early at 7.30am, it was already warm and windless and in the dappled shade of the late summer green wood. The butterflies were already on the wing, a female White Admiral, Limenitis camilla skimmed in and out of the the trees and for a few seconds warmed herself on a birch tree. A little while later walking down the track there was a familiar click of wings and a large male Purple Emperor with battle scars circled me and seemed really interested in this visitor who had appeared in his leafy domain. The large butterfly landed on the back of my leg and then rested in the nearby grass and that lovely purple sheen spread across his wings. Later in the day, I watched another male iris flying high around an oak tree and disturbing a few Purple Hairstreaks, Neozephyrus quercus. This common hairstreak is a real canopy specialist and rarely seen low down but today I did find an injured female resting on the main track. This stationary hairstreak had one of her eyes caked in dry mud and seemed to have abdomen damage. Perhaps she was trodden on by a dog or its walker, there were a few about. There is a pond nearby which the deer visit to drink and during hot weather the edges are churned up into a wide rim of wet mud. A few years ago, I found one Neozephyrus quercus mud puddling there.
Entering another unfrequented adjacent woodland, it was now hot and humid under the mid-day July sun and the promising track petered out and led into overgrown rides that were covered in low brambles and tussocks of grass. Here the large Fritillary, Argynnis paphia and the skipper Ochlodes venatus were in numbers. At last I found my way to the wood edge and it was a relief to climb over the barbed wire fence into the open fields beyond. At the far edge of the field, I made my way along a damp sunken green lane that was now an oven and I was enveloped in an enormous quantity of shimmering flies. I followed the lane as it climbed steadily to the ridge above with its village of thatch and stone cottages and a welcome cold beer in the 300 year old pub.
Limenitis camilla. First image is a pristine female.
Apatura iris male.
Neozephyrus quercus female.
Argynnis paphia male.
Ochlodes venatus