Woodlands
Some butterflies, such as the speckled wood and the silver-washed fritillary, enjoy the summer shade of woodlands, and they often feed on the nectar of flowering plants, such as ivy and wood sorrel, that grow on the woodland floor. You may find butterflies early in the morning, basking in small dappled pools of sunlight, or in clearings left by fallen trees. In places, woodlands can become, dense and almost impenetrable to light, preventing the smaller plants from growing. To help the butterflies, it is important to provide enough light for the flowering plants, on which and they feed, and this involves thinning out dense woodland, removing parts of the under-canopy and removing carefully selected trees and branches. This way, enough sunlight can penetrate through the tree canopy, allowing the woodland flowers to grow and to thrive.
Some of our best woodland sites for butterflies are at Bradenham, Pulpit Hill, Juniper Bank, Coombe Hill, Low Scrubs and Ashridge Forest.