Robert Coleman forwards this picture of a magnificent iole from the current season. Waiting on further details.
Congratulations, Bob.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Iole, iole, iole
Robert Coleman forwards this picture of a magnificent iole from the current season. Waiting on further details.
Congratulations, Bob.
More From Alice Holt
Back in Alice Holt, initially in unsuccessful pursuit of that Iole male. Neil Hulme ventured over the border to join the search - only to learn that another pristine Iole male had been photoed on his home patch. Hulme needs to be put on strong blood pressure pills. Never twitch an aberration.
Iris did not descend to the rides early on, only coming down in modest numbers during the mid-late morning period, as usual. I've yet to witness a repeat of the mass early breakfast of the 1976 heatwave, when temperatures were similar.
Good to see the first egg laying of the year (assuming she did lay - and the girls often go thru the motions without actually laying). She also rejected a male in the classic downward spiral flight describe in Ken Willmott's work. I also saw 2 other Empresses, including one being courted by 2 males at the main Goose Green territory. Result unknown.
Males were nicely sallow-searching and sailing the oak edges for an hour late morning. From 2pm they were quiescent, hardly stirring in the heat. There was a modest evening flight for 1 hour from 6pm, but activity was hindered and then curtailed by a band of cloud.
The butterfly is now officially 'well out' down south, with more females and a few males still to emerge.
Apparently it's just starting in Northants.
Enjoy...
Matthew
Gentlemen, Ladies: Tomorrow is One Sock Day.....
Iris did not descend to the rides early on, only coming down in modest numbers during the mid-late morning period, as usual. I've yet to witness a repeat of the mass early breakfast of the 1976 heatwave, when temperatures were similar.
Good to see the first egg laying of the year (assuming she did lay - and the girls often go thru the motions without actually laying). She also rejected a male in the classic downward spiral flight describe in Ken Willmott's work. I also saw 2 other Empresses, including one being courted by 2 males at the main Goose Green territory. Result unknown.
Males were nicely sallow-searching and sailing the oak edges for an hour late morning. From 2pm they were quiescent, hardly stirring in the heat. There was a modest evening flight for 1 hour from 6pm, but activity was hindered and then curtailed by a band of cloud.
The butterfly is now officially 'well out' down south, with more females and a few males still to emerge.
Apparently it's just starting in Northants.
Enjoy...
Matthew
Gentlemen, Ladies: Tomorrow is One Sock Day.....
More From Alice Holt
Back in Alice Holt, initially in unsuccessful pursuit of that Iole male. Neil Hulme ventured over the border to join the search - only to learn that another pristine Iole male had been photoed on his home patch. Hulme needs to be put on strong blood pressure pills. Never twitch an aberration.
Iris did not descend to the rides early on, only coming down in modest numbers during the mid-late morning period, as usual. I've yet to witness a repeat of the mass early breakfast of the 1976 heatwave, when temperatures were similar.
Good to see the first egg laying of the year (assuming she did lay - and the girls often go thru the motions without actually laying). She also rejected a male in the classic downward spiral flight describe in Ken Willmott's work. I also saw 2 other Empresses, including one being courted by 2 males at the main Goose Green territory. Result unknown.
Males were nicely sallow-searching and sailing the oak edges for an hour late morning. From 2pm they were quiescent, hardly stirring in the heat. There was a modest evening flight for 1 hour from 6pm, but activity was hindered and then curtailed by a band of cloud.
The butterfly is now officially 'well out' down south, with more females and a few males still to emerge.
Apparently it's just starting in Northants.
Enjoy...
Matthew
Iris did not descend to the rides early on, only coming down in modest numbers during the mid-late morning period, as usual. I've yet to witness a repeat of the mass early breakfast of the 1976 heatwave, when temperatures were similar.
Good to see the first egg laying of the year (assuming she did lay - and the girls often go thru the motions without actually laying). She also rejected a male in the classic downward spiral flight describe in Ken Willmott's work. I also saw 2 other Empresses, including one being courted by 2 males at the main Goose Green territory. Result unknown.
Males were nicely sallow-searching and sailing the oak edges for an hour late morning. From 2pm they were quiescent, hardly stirring in the heat. There was a modest evening flight for 1 hour from 6pm, but activity was hindered and then curtailed by a band of cloud.
The butterfly is now officially 'well out' down south, with more females and a few males still to emerge.
Apparently it's just starting in Northants.
Enjoy...
Matthew
Monday, June 29, 2009
Iris in East Sussex
By the powers invested in me, I hereby declare Sheffield Park Woods (NT) officially Purple. 3 males around a classic sheltered high point territory and a probable female later. There are very few known sites in East Sussex.
Better still, the Dragons Green iris are back, after many years. This is quite the most vicious race of iris: serial offender thugs. Who else would beat up 2 chaffinch, massacre a hornet, and then slaughter a posse of courting Purple Hairstreak, all within a minute? Don't mess with these guys, they're serious. 2 were on a sap run there at 6.45pm, pushing out hornets. They were still going when I left for the pub at 7.20 - so a significant evening flight in this orgasmic heat.
Matthew
Better still, the Dragons Green iris are back, after many years. This is quite the most vicious race of iris: serial offender thugs. Who else would beat up 2 chaffinch, massacre a hornet, and then slaughter a posse of courting Purple Hairstreak, all within a minute? Don't mess with these guys, they're serious. 2 were on a sap run there at 6.45pm, pushing out hornets. They were still going when I left for the pub at 7.20 - so a significant evening flight in this orgasmic heat.
Matthew
first, congratulations to Matthew on his iole.................well deserved!
doings in upper thames [berks/bucks/oxon];
first sightings on 25th June in three habitats very far apart [south-east bucks, bucks-oxon borders, west berks]; several single sightings since then.
Today, at Finemere Wood, 4/5 seen [believe me, that is good for this part of the world!]. Two were clashing males above the Ash canopy high point territory first found by Matthew a few years ago
doings in upper thames [berks/bucks/oxon];
first sightings on 25th June in three habitats very far apart [south-east bucks, bucks-oxon borders, west berks]; several single sightings since then.
Today, at Finemere Wood, 4/5 seen [believe me, that is good for this part of the world!]. Two were clashing males above the Ash canopy high point territory first found by Matthew a few years ago
Sunday, June 28, 2009
MATTHEW AND ab.iole
SUNDAY 28th JUNE:Today, I spent 45 mins with a pristine Purple Emperor male aberration Iole, down on the main ride near the entrance to my beloved Straits Inclosure, in Alice Holt. Photos to follow. This realises an ambition of 40+ years standing. Iole has 2 tiny white spots, only. There are 3 specimens in the national collections.
It had not previously been photographed.
'If a man could pass through paradise as if in a dream, and be handed a flower as a pledge that he had truly been there; and if on leaving he was to find that flower in his hand. Ay! And what then?'. Coleridge (probably in an illegal state of mind).
Matthew
It had not previously been photographed.
'If a man could pass through paradise as if in a dream, and be handed a flower as a pledge that he had truly been there; and if on leaving he was to find that flower in his hand. Ay! And what then?'. Coleridge (probably in an illegal state of mind).
Matthew
SATURDAY 27th JUNE: Great to see a courting pair - male closely following female - at the Mark Oak master tree territory where Ken Willmott conducted much of his classic research, seen at 1.38 and 1.40. Straight out of the Book of Willmott. This seems to be the first female of the year.
No males seen 'sallow-searching', which they do on flat ground in Alice Holt and Fermyn. Ken has never seen this here. Maybe they don't indulge in that behaviour here.
3 males seen down on the rides in the morning, but all disturbed by passers by. None came down to our baits, but we only put them out for 45 mins.
Matthew
FRIDAY 26th JUNE: The day began with the obligatory Glastonbury Festival thunderstorm, then a glowering dank morning which meant my field meeting group failed to see anything or iris. Some sun and brightness after 2pm. His Imperial Majesty came out to play with the sun: 4 males at Goose Green in Alice Holt, who split into two pairs disputing two territories. And a freshly emerged Purple Hairstreak - and again I failed to find the vacated pupal case.
No males seen 'sallow-searching', which they do on flat ground in Alice Holt and Fermyn. Ken has never seen this here. Maybe they don't indulge in that behaviour here.
3 males seen down on the rides in the morning, but all disturbed by passers by. None came down to our baits, but we only put them out for 45 mins.
Matthew
FRIDAY 26th JUNE: The day began with the obligatory Glastonbury Festival thunderstorm, then a glowering dank morning which meant my field meeting group failed to see anything or iris. Some sun and brightness after 2pm. His Imperial Majesty came out to play with the sun: 4 males at Goose Green in Alice Holt, who split into two pairs disputing two territories. And a freshly emerged Purple Hairstreak - and again I failed to find the vacated pupal case.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Southwater Update
The number of Purple Emperors at Southwater Woods is building nicely. On the 25th June Matthew Oates and I spent the day there, eventually seeing a total of 8 males. Things were looking a little slow, until an apparently solitary male was suddenly joined by a second, then third Emperor, resulting in a 'free-for-all' around the Dogbarking Master Trees.
Today (27th June) I saw 10 individual males, with two coming down to the main W-E Ride. I got some reasonable photographs of the underside, but the open-wing 'purple shot' evaded me, as it was checking out the quality of my moleskin trousers. Fellow Butterfly Conservation committee member Andrew Burns managed to photograph it on my calf.
The woods are throwing up unprecendented numbers of aberrant forms this season. I recorded my fifth different obliterae White Admiral and an even more extreme ocellata Silver-washed Fritillary than the one that I've seen over previous days.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Here we go again!
Today (23rd June 2009) a privileged group, including Hannah Sandars, Andy Stokes, Tom Ottley and I, saw two Emperors in Southwater Woods (West Sussex). The first was 'on the deck' in the eastern part of Marlpost Wood - I nearly trod on Him at 11.55 hrs. The second made a couple of brief sorties around the Dogbarking Master Trees at 13.00hrs, while our small gathering paid homage from below.
Being new to this game, Hannah quickly realised the dangers of 'Emperor Neck', so adopted a hitherto unseen observation posture - easily confused with 'being asleep'.
The woods were kind to us today, with sightings of Silver-washed Fritillary ab. ocellata and White Admiral ab. obliterae.
The emergence of His Majesty was celebrated in traditional style at the 'Selsey Arms' and then later (just to be sure) at the 'George and Dragon'.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Doings during the 2009 Purple Emperor Season
National One Sock Day will be staged on Wed 1st July. On this day those of Purple Persuasion are obliged to spend time in an Iris wood wearing only a single sock – to commemorate Brother Neil’s famous self-disrobing on 1st July 2008. The sock may be of any size or colour, though if it covers the entire body the wearer is obliged to hop. This is the most important event in the Purple calendar.
Invasion of Fermyn Woods. This will take place between 4th-11th July.
The Emperor’s Breakfast will be filmed by the BBC in Fermyn Wood on Sunday 5th July. The piece will be presented by the Hon. Mike Dilger, who has been made an Honorary Member of our loose association. The Breakfast is being staged as a contemporary art event, and will consist of several artistically decorated trestle tables containing platters offering a variety of substances, legal and otherwise, to the Emperor of the Woods.
The Beeb should also filming Purple Emperors in
Oates’s Sabbatical. Oates is on sabbatical this summer, by kind permission of the National Trust, doing a variety of doings relating to Our Sovereign Insect. These include mark & recapture on males (or mark & never see again) in Alice Holt Forest, in order to determine longevity, frequency of territory occupancy, and perhaps mobility; work seeking to classify the types of sallows favoured by the butterfly; various engagement events - and a whole load of Silly things. Please do not attempt to extract common sense from him during this period.
Captain of School. Neil Hulme is Captain of School for this term.
Matthew's Prospects for the Season
Gentlemen, Ladies:
The Sukebind is coming into bloom! Camilla [1] and Paphia are upon us, and as you may know, His Imperial Majesty, the Monarch of all the Butterflies, the High Spirit of the Midsummer Trees, takes to the air when Camilla males are well out. In mathematical terms the equation is Camilla + Paphia + Quercus = Iris. The Empress, though, usually appears in synchrony with the humble Gatekeeper, Tithonus[2].
So, in the southern woods, it will be worth scanning the trees from 25th June onwards, though the first Iris males may not appear until the 28th, perhaps even the 30th. Further north the insect may not start until 1st or 2nd July. Much, though, depends on the weather over the next ten days or so - and a big anticyclone is about to come over from the
It is unlikely that iris will be particularly plentiful this year, for two reasons. First, although the butterfly emerged in good numbers in 2008, it got decimated (in sensu hodie) by an autumnal gale on 5th / 6th July and therefore did not lay a great many eggs. Secondly, pupation may have been hindered by cold and intermittently wet weather between 6th to 10th June this year (though hopefully many had pupated before that period).
However, much depends on the weather from now on. As with White Admiral, there is a strong correlation between short pupal periods, caused by hot June weather, and a high emergence.
Above all, enjoy the forthcoming Season, and report all notable doings to this website…
[1] Some members may wish to refer to this butterfly by its old name, Sibylla.
[2] Tithonus won prat of the year in 3000BC. He was a handsome youth beloved by Eos, the goddess of dawn, who persuaded Zeus to grant him everlasting life – only they forgot to ask for everlasting youth, the result being that the poor boy withered away and was last seen hopping around as a grasshopper…
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Three weeks and counting
Who's going to be first off the mark this year? Get registered as a blogger now, so that you can report the first flight of 2009. Email to derekcva@gmail.com, and I'll organsise permissions for you to blog away.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A Sad Tale (Part 2)
On 31 May Matthew Oates and Hannah (my yet-to-be-indoctrinated 'other half') returned to the 'Magic Sallow' in search of Lord Lucan, or any of his sibling larvae. Not only did he fail to show, but I am sad to report the demise of this once proud tree. It has been maliciously stripped of its bark by one or more squirrels and is now at least 50% dead wood. Needless to say I have now cancelled my subscription to the 'Tufty Club'.
A Sad Tale (Part 1)
Here are some images of the wild iris caterpillar that I first found on 18 April 2009 and last saw on 1 May, before it sadly disappeared, never to be seen again. Having survived the always tricky winter period, it was very disappointing to lose him at this stage.
The 'Magic Sallow' near to my former home in Arundel (West Sussex) has allowed me the privilege of tracking up to 6 larvae until the point of pupation in previous years. I now realise that it was rather irresponsible of me to have christened him 'Lord Lucan'.
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