July woods

[puddleshark]

In the July woods: sunlight & pleasant shade, and silence.















I sat for a while on the same fallen tree I sat on last time I was in these woods, back in May, when the bluebells were in flower, and the wind was shaking the oak branches. But the bluebells are long gone over, and it's high, high summer now. Not a breath of wind to stir the leaves. The faint hum of insects, the occasional monotonous squeaky song of Coal-tits, the trilling of Wrens makes little impression on the summer silence of the woods.

I walked as far as the Great Bramblebush of B., in search of butterflies. Saw a million Gatekeepers - well, maybe not a million, but more than I could count - a few Peacocks & unidentified Whites, and a single Silver-washed Fritillary.


Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia).

Left the shade of the woods, and took the path back through the hayfield, with the sun very warm, and the tall grass already yellow with lack of rain. Stopped beside a thistle patch to watch the butterflies feeding.


Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).


Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) in the foreground, and a Gatekeeper in the background. Extraordinary numbers of Gatekeepers around today, but not as many Meadow Browns as I would have expected.