A lot of us found today too hot. The Emperor certainly did, and started to conk out around 2.30 (apart from the odd pair of sparring males).
At Knepp, one was seen flying low across a scrubby field at 7am, begging the question of what else was going on then...
I was only out for part of the day as my left knee is playing up badly (needs a replacement kneecap). Two males visited Operation Wallacea's marquees and portaloos midmorning (environmental science students). I walked the main PE transect from 12.30, and totalled just 18 - a poor count, fractionally up on Friday. I managed to get nearly all of it done before they conked. One nearly settled on top of a sow wallowing in the edge of a pond!
Elsewhere, a very encouraging report from Savernake where three were seen down on the rides and a bundle of six was seen in flight. I thought they were going to be good in Sav this year.
Another very positive report from Bernwood Forest, of about 25 on the wind there.
Good to hear reports on individuals from three spots in the Kentish High Weald, including a garden in Goudhurst.
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Good to see you on Sunday Matthew, sorry about your knee. We saw a few more dogfights including a couple of trios, ending with a count of about 25. Happily we also got a "false tumbledown" at about 7pm; it wasn't a male and female, but the same pair of males we'd seen fighting in Green Lane all day. They were just tanked and had nothing left, and their scrap brought them almost to the ground where they both showed purple briefly as they fluttered about. It was great to share the experience with some Knepp newbies, though we were sure to tell them they were lucky! Thanks for the Iping Common tip for silver studded blues, we went on Monday and saw hundreds; they were everywhere. QE park also treated us to a half-decent SFW population and a cluster of nine large whites. Thanks, Simon and Nick.
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