Knepp: Day 9 - Stupendous

Today, in a six hour wander through part of the 1150 acre main block of Knepp Wildland I counted a staggering 177 Emperors, or rather 175 Emperors and just two females - whilst suffering from either heatstroke or some poxy virus which meant that I had to finish early without celebrating with a bottle of something wicked... and my trousers never went on my head, which is outrageous.

The key points are 1) I rightly predicted a massive emergence this year and, 2), more importantly, this doesn't have to be a rare butterfly - it's just that it's horribly suppressed by certain mindsets in forestry and land ownership.

Tomorrow, a double century perhaps...

But I keep meeting people looking down for Emperors. Look up, and ignore all other biodiversity -