Sunday, June 28, 2015
Is this the first official sighting of 2015?
According to the Hampshire BC site HIM has decided to surprise us by making an appearance at Axmansford, near Tadley. A male visited a garden briefly on 27th June at 16.30. I have booked this week off so I hope they continue to emerge, otherwise I have to make a few last minute arrangements.
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I've just read of this sighting on the Hants & IOW BC website. Seems genuine, as do the two mid-June sightings from N Bucks reported by Dennis. Also, a late June sighting, seemingly of a female, has come in from sunny, warm Kent.
However, I am sure these sightings do not represent the true start of the 2015 Purple Emperor season. Heslop, in Notes & Views, talks about 'pioneer' males which appear some time before the proper emergence. I've experienced such sightings myself, in 1972 and 1977, but not in recent times.
I wonder if a few larvae jumped the starter's gun during the fine April this spring and got way ahead of their rightful development schedule?
I'm still expecting Ken Willmott to announce the first male(s) at Bookham Common on June 30th - unless Neil Hulme manages to pip him in W Sussex. 'Late' sites, such as Savernake Forest, may not kick off before July 10th, or later - despite the forecast heat wave (which will hopefully induce some acute aberrations...).
Whatever, now is the time to get your car ready for the Season: I haven't cleaned mine in weeks and on Thurs and Fri deliberately parked it under a streetlamp frequented by seagulls in Llandudno... It's now looking good...
I stopped washing my moleskins two weeks ago, and by Tuesday (first sortie) they should be ripe.
To clarify, the Kent sighting was at Edenbridge on Sat 28th, and Herself apparently...
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