05.07.2025 - Outdoor Meeting : Foxley Wood

Leader & Reporter: Sue Gale
This outdoor meeting was something of a departure from the usual, as we were looking for butterflies not birds. But it’s a quiet time of year for birding and an excellent time for our target butterflies – Purple Emperor, White Admiral, Purple Hairstreak and Silver-washed Fritillary.

Although the weather forecast had not been very promising, 16 of us met at the car park on a fairly bright, warm morning. We retraced our steps along the main entrance drive so that any stragglers could catch up with us, although we were in more danger of being run over by them! Before we left the car park we had seen a Large Skipper (thankfully we had James to ID it), the first of many fresh new Gatekeepers, a Speckled Wood , Meadow Brown and Small White. By the end of the track, we had added Silver-washed Fritillary, Comma, Ringlet and Green-veined White to the list. 
Turning right along the wide ride we saw many more Ringlets and Small Whites, easily the most numerous species, but we found a single Painted Lady nestled in the foliage and added Large White and Red Admiral to the list. Progress is very slow when looking for butterflies, compared with our usual birding, but we did also take note of the birds we heard (we really didn’t see many). They included Bullfinch and Oystercatcher, Blackcap and Skylark.
Meeting the crossroads of paths we paused to examine the tops of the Oak trees and were rewarded with sight of a male Purple Emperor flying between trees. Although a distant view the large butterfly was very distinctive. We then turned left along the narrower path in search of closer views. Heading towards the solitary Oaks David and a small group watched Purple Hairstreaks in some relatively close Oak leaves. Several of us caught up with these on the return walk. Those ahead had managed to locate an Oak with a small sap run that was attracting Hornets, Red Admirals and yes, female Purple Emperors. Luckily for us James had brought his telescope, and I think everyone was able to have a good look at these scarce creatures. It was interesting to see them land on the tree above the sap run and then crawl down the trunk to feed on the sap.
While standing there a White Admiral flew past us. This turned out to be the hardest of our targets to find. We walked on a bit further to a spot that had many more Silver-washed Fritillaries, although the sun was not very bright and not so many butterflies were on the wing as we hoped. One of several Emperor Dragonflies was seen here too.
We walked back after two hours of fascinating watching, having added Peacock to the list. Some members also saw Brimstone and Wall Brown.
A total of 18 species. We were quite pleased with that.

Butterfly list
Large Skipper. Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Small White, Ringlet, Silver-washed Fritillary, Comma, Green-veined White, Large White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, White Admiral, Purple Emperor, Purple Hairstreak, Peacock, Wall Brown, Brimstone.

Bird List
Bullfinch. Oystercatcher, Blackcap, Skylark, Wren, Chiffchaff.