Intra- and inter-shell correlation effects have been analysed in detail for a series of Li-like ions in their first excited state. This (1s²2p alpha )²P state was described at the correlated and Hartree-Fock levels by the wavefunctions of Weiss. Coulomb holes and partial 'holes' were determined in position space for the individual electronic shells and, for the K alpha K beta shell, the authors also evaluated several statistical correlation coefficients. For comparability with the ²S ground state, the discussion centred mainly on Li. When comparing different states, the partial Coulomb holes were particularly useful in providing insight into the changing characteristics of electron correlation within a specific shell. It was found that excitation of the outer electron not only influenced the correlation effects in the K alpha L alpha and K beta L alpha inter-shells but, equally noteworthy, a marked shift occurred in the radial and angular components of correlation in the intra-shell. The analysis was also capable of highlighting a weakness in the correlated description of the ²P state inter-shells.