Prospects for 2019

2019 is off to a promising start. Only one of 17 larvae hibernating in Savernake Forest were lost to (assumed) predation during the late November and December period, despite unusually mild weather and high tit numbers. The one that has vanished might have moved, as it was in an unusually warm spot.

Finger's crossed, but it looks as though bird predation may be relatively low this winter, as the blighters have other things to feed on. But the main danger period is late January to the end of February. Hopefully the weather will be cold, snowy and frosty then - and drive the tits out of the forest on to bird feeders in Marlborough, and protect the hibernating larvae.   

Here's are couple of larvae sleeping through the winter -

Meanwhile, I'm beavering away at my opus major His Imperial Majesty, a natural history of the Purple Emperor butterfly. I've got to finish it by the end of March. It's being published by Bloomsbury in May 2020. Watch this space...