Two males performing nicely on territory this afternoon along Three Oak Hills Drive at the southern end of Savernake Forest, Wiltshire.
NOT at The Column, where Everyone goes, but at the Dead Beech Glade which Everyone walks past on route to The Column. The Column is at best a secondary territory, intermittently used. The Dead Beech Glade is a primary territory in use every afternoon throughout the flight season except in gloom or strong wind; at SU 232652, or stand at What3Words 'forum.walking.directors' and look east past the dead beech trunk...
This may well be the last sighting nationally of the 2022 Purple Emperor season, 47 days after the first - though it would be nice if we could squeeze fifty days out of this year.
Savernake is a 'late' site and quite often produces the last sighting of iris nationally. Ringlets were still out in numbers there today (they finished a week back at Knepp in W Sussex) and I even saw a late Large Skipper (which finished two weeks back at Knepp).
The egg lay in Savernake looks highly promising. Here's an early L2 larva from today, silking -
There has been no sighting at Knepp since last Saturday.
