Wait For It!

In the military, one is instructed - NEVER be late. Inevitably, that means that on occasion, you will be early, and very early is better than a tiny bit late. So with this in mind, a patrol was sent out on the fourth of July in perfect weather, to reconnoitre the conditions for observing Iris at the Fermyn Wood complex.

Observations started at 08.30 hours with clear blue skies and temperatures climbing steadily into the high teens. Ladywood is sporting a new look this season, with the rides widened considerably. This has been achieved by clearing all the sallows along the rides as far as the pond, so you will not be ambushed by Iris leaping out at you as you go along this track. The clearance has revealed that there is a small ditch each side of this track and there is still standing water on this ground, even after a few days of intense heat. I expect this to remain during the season, which will be good news for the hawker and chaser dragonflies that are now in evidence. You can observe the tops of the oaks quite easily now from the tracks, for Iris activity.

However, opening up the rides has allowed the sun to beat down and dry up any existing pools of moisture favoured by grounded males imbibing minerals and salts which has previously made Fermyn the place to come to if you want pictures of HIM on the ground. It also means that in the lack of shade, the Iris observer will also feel the heat more this year. Hat and water a must?

Souther Wood has also been cleared on one side but not as far as Neil's Corner. The same applies here as to Lady wood. It has also revealed the state of the sallows further back from the track. They do not look healthy at all, with many almost devoid of greenery. Moving off the tracks into tall grass, the heat was too much, so, as it remained devoid of Iris activity, we did not remain long in these areas. We were surprised to observe a huge tit flock operating in Souther wood, possibly 50+ individuals comprising Blue, Marsh, Great, Long-tailed and some nuthatches and even thrushes passing through over the track. This sort of thing is expected in winter but must surely have an effect on survival rates if still going on now?

As mentioned by Richard, there were indications that the IRIS season is yet to get underway with no Purple Hairstreaks observed and with Camilla and Paphia looking very smart. Add to this the fact that we observed ten Black Hairstreak feeding on the Privet flowers and some still in a fair condition, this may indicate that the season will be later than that enjoyed for the previous year or two? The Lugenda sighting may be one of the consequences of the previous large changes in temperature experienced in previous weeks. In which case, we may get to see more examples of these this year?  At any rate, we left at 15.30 hours hot and dispirited at a meagre total of four individuals seen all day, and just the one grounding. Conclusion? Wait for a little while before making the journey if you live a long way from Fermyn.