Bernwood Forest 22nd June

At least three coming down from the Oaks late morning. This one was present for at least forty minutes  imbibing from one of the few areas of damp ground on a track through the woods.He found it a struggle to find anything to his liking, regularly flitting along low to the ground searching for that sweet spot. Always good to get my initial adrenalin rush of the season as I glimpse that flash of glorious colour.

Sat June 20th & Sun June 21st: Heatwave Coming!

Sat 20th: a little too cloudy at times. Savernake had a welcoming party out for me, in the form of a large (Emperors are unusually large in Sav) male flying down Grand Avenue towards me as I drove in from the Burbage end (stop, switch off and Squirt Windscreen - but he hurried on by...).

Then a magic 40 minutes with this pristine male, who was struggling to find anything to feed on -

Eventually he found a squashed fox scat (identifiable by smell and the presence of Woodland Door Beetle wing cases!) -

A search of the Three Oak Hills Drive male territories, in imperfect weather, produced lone males in three of the primary territories (and, as usual, none at The Column, where everyone goes, which is a secondary territory).  

Incidentally, PE started in Savernake on Friday 19th, when the last of the followed larvae there pupated. PE also started in Bentley Woods, S Wilts, then.

Sun June 21st.  Not many people out Emperoring today, deterred by the heat.  Today, the Emperor started in Glos, with 2-3 males active at Sapperton Broad Ride (Mick Peacey's been checking daily, so this is Day 1). Here's one up on a favoured lime tree - 

 

The Purple Emperor is now out in virtually all known counties: Dorset, Glos and Leics all started today. We've yet to hear from some of the northern counties. Numbers are low to modest nearly everywhere (Fermyn Woods may be in the lead at the moment). 

In the coming heatwave, males will be looking for food on the rides in early to mid-morning, and thereafter intermittently throughout the day. The rides are, though, very dry. Dog mess (commonest near to parking areas) will be favoured. 

Males will be active on territory from about 12.30 to 2.30-ish, but may then conk out for a siesta, before having an evening flight from 5.30 to about 7.30. The evening flight is terrific. 

Both sexes will readily visit oak sap runs, but these are hard to find (watch for hornets and Red Ads), and flow intermittently. Here's a cracker of a sap run on the Bumble Oak, a named veteran oak close to the FC loos at Postern Hill in Savernake. Note the white bits - that's what the Emperors favour -   

Fri June 19th: Heatwave Starting...

Again, relatively modest numbers at Knepp today. Males are 'sallow searching' during the mid- to late mornings (searching the sallow thickets for females and female pupae...). Here's one from today, who paused briefly on his travels -

 4 males came down to feed on the tracks today, but the tracks are very dry and there isn't much for them. This male made do with dry cowpat -

Meanwhile, Knepp's famous Tamworth pigs know how to cope with heatwave conditions -

Elsewhere, the first Emperors of 2026 were recorded in Savernake Forest today (I'm heading there tomorrow).  Most of the more southern Purple counties have now declared themselves in purpuratum for the season, but not Gloucestershire. Further north, the first males were seen in Lincolnshire today.

This will be the key weekend this weekend for photographing males feeding on the ground (mornings and late afternoons are best, usually). So, to the woods, the lot of you! Enjoy...

 

Thurs June 18th: Knepp Kicks Off!

Much better weather at Knepp today, without the irritating wind. However, an unforecast band of rain came over at 2.15pm, lasting till 4pm. Then the sun came out strongly and the Emperors went berserk (they even launched themselves at a Chinook helicopter, albeit rather lamely, and an Egyptian goose [new to the Purple Bird Hit List]). 

One pristine male down on the track by Patrick's Tree around noon - 

They do seem rather patchy, with some popular territories still unoccupied, and are most numerous close to the younger sallow stands, suggesting that the breeding grounds have shifted. 

An indication of how slow the season is here is provided by the fact that Ringlet only started at Knepp today.  

I had a close encounter with a freshly emerged female Purple Hairstreak, though this species too isn't well out here yet (I worked the evening flight, but only saw 10) - 

Knepp's Purple Emperor Walk is now up and running - same as last year, with PE HQ in the black barn down Green Lane -

Elsewhere, 10 seen down on the rides in Fermyn Woods today, and Worcestershire has declared itself Purple for the season.  This weekend is going to be Mega...

 

Wed June 17th: It's a Girl!

Here's Persephone, of Knepp. She was found as a final instar larva by UV torching at night in early June, by Neil Hulme. She had her final meal on the leaf upperside early on Sun June 14th, and then crawled about .5m to a leaf underside that afternoon, to pupate. 

She was head up, spinning a silk pad on the 15th, then turned around, head down on the 16th. She pupated this morning (17th), and revealed herself to be female (the pupae are easy to sex). 

So, a three day process, which is unusually quick. She wont emerge before July 7th.

Not too much progress at Knepp today: the morning was too cloudy and the afternoon too windy. 

Elsewhere, the Emperor has now been seen on the wing in Hertfordshire, Warwickshire (Heart of England Forest) and - here's the big one - Northamptonshire (Fermyn Woods).

This weekend should be mega...

Tues June 16th: Outgunned, by the Lady!

Not too much happening on the Purple front today, on this the opening day of the old coarse fishing season.

At Knepp, no big emergence yet, and none recorded feeding down on the tracks again (but the tracks are all dry and devoid of cowpats etc.). 

Males were seen sallow searching (for females, and female pupae) for the first time this year.

Instead, we had a significant influx of Painted Ladies, including this lovely female - 

For an hour around noon, Ladies were moving due north at an impressive rate.  

This is good news, as male immigrant Ladies can be highly territorial, setting up territories in canopy gaps from mid-afternoon - and sparring off with Enperors. Immigrant Lady males are the only butterfly in the UK which can compete with Emperor males on territory, so expect some good dog fights up in the canopy.

I'm expecting a good emergence of Emperors soon - Big Bang (the main emergence) must be imminent.    

 

Mon June 15th: Herself Appears!

Sunshine on a SE breeze (it was NW yesterday).

A steady emergence of Emperors at Knepp. I walked the PE transect, and counted 13, which is good for so early in the flight season. The tally included the first female of the year, here and nationally. This may be the earliest an Empress has ever been seen in the UK...

None was seen down on the tracks feeding, but the tracks have dried up and there was no dung on them today (it would help if the cattle wandered down during the night...).  

A nice hatch of Purple Hairstreaks today, a freshly emerged Peacock (already!) and another influx of Painted Ladies and Red Ads. 

Vicious Thug of the Day goes to this male, who chased off a Blue Tit and a White Stork -

Elsewhere, the first Emperors were seen today in Bernwood Forest, Oxon (Waterperry Wood).

Onwards, and Upwards...