Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Numbers at Fermyn Woods



I was back again at Fermyn Woods on Monday (8th July) and on this occasion recorded 21 male Purple Emperors in the Lady/Souther Wood complex, along with my first sighting of a female Purple Emperor this year. No Purple Emperors were recorded from Cherry Lap Wood.


Last year, I made 3 trips to Fermyn whilst Purple Emperor was on the wing and was delighted to see 199 Purple Emperors. This year, on 3 similar visits, I have recorded 55 Purple Emperors. Based on this limited data, it would appear that numbers are between one quarter and one third of that experienced last year, which corresponds to Matthew Oates' observations that were reported in an earlier post.
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 10, 2019 at 3:45 AM

    Hello Toby...from your experience, do you think they may still be about towards the end of the month at this site? I have not seen the PE and it seems a good location for them.

    Brian

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  2. Toby LudlowJuly 11, 2019 at 1:16 PM

    Hi Brian,
    There were still some absolutely fresh ones there today, so it is perfectly conceivable that they will last a couple more weeks. Also, I have only seen 2 females there, so still plenty to emerge. Therefore, yes, I would say they will be. Obviously, the sooner you go, the better condition they will be in. I would also recommend walking through the first wood (Cherry Lap) and into the second one (Lady Wood/Southern Wood), as this is where most of the sightings are being recorded.
    Hope this helps!
    Best wishes
    Toby

    ReplyDelete
  3. Toby LudlowJuly 11, 2019 at 1:19 PM

    Should have been Souther Wood, not Southern!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 12, 2019 at 3:19 AM

    Thanks Toby, I hope to find at least one whilst in the area.
    Best Wishes
    Brian

    ReplyDelete

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