June Blows Out...

Yet another windswept day at Knepp. Indeed, the second week of the Emperor season here has blown by on scudding clouds - a great shame as the second week is really the best week, with males descending to feed in pristine or near-pristine condition, searching the sallows for girls and exploring their treetop world.

Neil and I baited a stretch of hard track this morning, with his secret recipe shrimp paste tea, and this promptly happened -

With the sun came that moderate to fresh wind, which made the Emperors hang up - after being gloriously active for one dizzy hour, during which I realised, again, that they are actually out in very good numbers, or would be if the weather relented and allowed them to fly. I think the Prime Minister should apologise to The House about the loss of second week of the 2022 Purple Emperor season.

Next week is looking fine, with a pleasant anticyclone coming in. It cannot arrive soon enough. However, the forecast for tomorrow, July 1st, involves yet more grot: I can cope with the grot, if the wind dies down. The wind cools the whole system down.

My guess is that there are a lot of Emperors and, in particularly, Empresses, due to emerge, everywhere. They're holding back, waiting for the weather to improve... but they can't hold back indefinitely, and the longer the insect spends in the pupal stage the fewer adults actually fly, due to predation.

Here's one of the Knepp Tamworth sows walking past my ebike - 

 

Female Empress on the ground at Heartwood Forest, Sandridge, Herts

Looking at Matthew's recent post yesterday about the low numbers of females seen nationally, I decided I'd upload this post I sent Herts & Middx BC Sightings on Tuesday, as it is directly relevant:

It was frustrating being cooped up indoors during the good weather this morning, waiting for a plumber, when I had been tipped off that 3 Purple Emperors had been seen at Heartwood Forest that same morning!!  After lunch I hurried off to my usual haunt around Well Wood and Pudler's Wood in Heartwood , but saw no sign of Purple Emperor between 1.30 and 2.30. Undoubtedly it was too windy, since the whole ridge line was being battered by gusts of wind, and bearing in mind Matthew's advice that "Purple Emperors hate wind!", I decided to visit the tip-off location to the south-west of Langley Wood, in a more protected area. 

Skirting the latter along it's north-western edge at 3 pm I spotted a male Emperor patrolling the tree line at TL 16011 11014 [curl.rods.asleep], and spent some time fruitlessly waiting for it to reappear. I continued south-west to the tip-off area, and immediately spotted at least 2 male PE perching, patrolling, and regularly fighting from 3.30-4 pm around two large oaks (TL 15831 10722 [shop.vibe.guess] and TL 15869 10727 [media.laser.upper]). It's possible there were more than two males, but impossible to be sure since I only ever saw a maximum of two at one time. 

At 3.45 I decided to head back to the NW edge of Langley wood, to see if the male was down, and was thrilled to spot what seemed to be another "male" which landed wings akimbo for a couple of minutes at only 12 feet up in a sallow at 4 pm. 

I fired off a couple of shots (sadly a leaf hid its head), and at 4.30 decided to call it a day - which was great luck, since barely 100 yards along the trail north-east at TL 16080 11058 [ages.oils.answer] I scared up a gigantic grounded female (my first ever on the ground). She was barely bothered by my presence, flying around me, and she settled several times, but always on grass and plant stems and leaves which made for poor photos, but I was thrilled nonetheless. And upon reviewing the photos, I was able to match the ventral wing markings of the female to my so-called "male", which turned out to be the same individual (!) (she didn't seem so large when up in the tree!). 

All in all it was a fab afternoon despite very blustery conditions, demonstrating unequivocally that as Matthew tells us, the leeward side of woods are the best option in windy conditions (especially if sunlit!) - the tree line in which the two large oaks are located protected their leeward side from the south-westerly wind, and since the terrain descends on the leeward side towards Langley Wood, it's much calmer there. In the same way, Langley wood created just enough of a wind break for the pathway along it's northern edge, and despite its northern position, the sun was still able to hit the path, creating ideal conditions.

In addition to good numbers of the usual Heartwood grassland species (see my previous report, 25th June), I noted a very large number of commas, far more than I can remember for many years in Hertfordshire. I saw them almost everywhere in the wooded areas, and guess I saw a minimum of 25, perhaps 30 individuals. 

The prospects for this Friday morning look very positive, so long as the forecast is accurate! Happy hunting everyone, and Watch This Space! 

Wed June 29th: Rip-off Britain...

Pulses of drizzle ceased mid-morning, and were replaced by glimmers amongst the glowers. At noon the sun burst through, and Emperors took spectacularly to the air - I watched 10 males become instantly active at Bentons Gorse, the high ashram of Knepp, but they soon dispersed and went off sallow searching.  

Then the day stalled, started again, stalled, and never got going properly - until it cleared in the evening and I issued the day with a fixed penalty notice, a Rip-off Britain sticker, and a Blame Boris emoji. 

I doubt many Emperors emerged today here, or yesterday: we are still awaiting a Big Bang at Knepp, and to date only four females have been seen. 

Perhaps tomorrow...

Watch this space...

Most of the known male territories at Knepp have got silly names. This is the Consistorial Court of Discipline, for those who know their Philip Pullman (it's not far from Lady Chatterley's Lover, Pride & Extreme Prejudice, Lord Byron, Normal People and Lady Windermere's Fan) -  

 

Ab. atava?

 On Saturday we decided to visit Ellenbrook Fields to the west of Hatfield (Herts), for a quick family walk. Seeing an opportunity to search for Purple Emperor (despite very blustery and mostly cloudy conditions!), we followed a circular route that took us along the eastern edge of Round Wood and forested Home Covert, an area where Malcolm Hull (Chairman, BC, Herts & Middx) had spotted high-flying PEs last year. We stopped to look for butterflies at a 90 degree corner on the main path, forming a natural amphitheatre in the canopy, a point that seemed ideal for Royalty ( TL 20074 08924 ) .... and as I looked one way, my wife looked the other, and promptly, and very brilliantly, casually asked me "what's that butterfly"? Well, how fantastic, as I turned to look, a Purple Emperor was gliding away from us, but turned back, and would you believe it(?!), landed barely a metre from us on the path. Not a great background, but beggars can't be choosers as they say, and I was afforded a thrilling minute to fire off some shots before it flew off. 

It was a massive male, the biggest I have seen, and slightly aberrant - looking at the British Butterfly Aberrations web site ( http://www.britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk/species/apatura-iris/aberrations ) it agrees fairly well with the description for "ab. atava" with orange scaling on the upper side of the FW delineating the under side eye spot, and some limited orange scaling around the upper HW subapical and postdiscal region. Shortly after he flew off, the sky became totally overcast and we headed home shortly after. What an amazing encounter, and were it not for my wife, I would surely have missed His Purple Wonderness entirely, or would have scared HIM off after he had landed so close to my feet. Another highlight (non-butterfly) of this short walk was at least two pairs of yellowhammers, a species I have barely seen in recent years in this neck of the woods.

BTW, we have a larger colony of Purple Emperor at Heartwood Forest to the north of St Albans where I spotted a single PE fly overhead a couple of days ago, but no photo. I had 6 down on the ground in one day there last year, and I'm keeping fingers crossed for the same or better this coming week! I'll let you know what happens ....

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All the best,

Andrew Neild

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Purple Rain (Reign)

I treated myself to 2 days at Fermyn Woods on 27th and 28th June. Having checked the weather I was confident of some sun on Monday, however I arrived in overcast skies and was subjected to getting two soakings throughout the day. A slight gap in the clouds did show a couple of Purple Emperors chasing in the top of the trees but it soon clouded over and more showers and I was going to give up for the day. Good job I didn't. After around 15.00 the cloud cleared away and the Emperors came down, I had 9 groundings and saw around 13 altogether, the last being at 17. 38 on the ground at the entrance to Fermyn on my way out. I had a supporting cast of female Goshawk seen twice and great views of a calling Cuckoo.

Tuesday was completely different with an enticing Fermyn promising to deliver the goods. I was surprised at how few people were there, I suspect I was the only person standing in the rain the previous day waiting for action but today there were 3 or 4 others looking so it was still quiet observer wise. I was divebombed by my forst male on the way in, so things looked good. A hunting Hobby showed well before I entered Lady Wood, where things kicked off! Straight away a grounded male which was a portent of things to come. As the day progressed I saw around 12 at least down and around 20 in the small area I stayed around. One observer I met had 4 males down together, amazing what a bit of bait will do. He had arrived earlier and had seen 3 down together on arrival. I eventually got soundly 'trousered' and managed a photo. Photographic opportunities were pretty phenomenal with so many coming down and the sun going in and out. Purple Emperors were well and truly making the most of the better weather, but I did not see any females. As Neil would say 'Fill your boots' which I well and truly did.

Male down and showing well

Interesting male with pronounced 'eye spots' on forewings

Trousered!

Tues June 28th

Back at Knepp today, though with the sun came the wind and only north-facing oak edges were workable. The best such edge produced a count of 15 Emperors in 12 minutes, including a vista of five.

Never take on a Hobby, as one ambitious Emperor did at 12.15, and didn't quite come off best - 

And they're starting to feed on sap runs again (though some are still coming down to feed on the tracks) -

A female was seen today, only the third seen so far this year here (and nationally).  

When the wind drops, and if the sun shines, throw a sicky and get out Emperoring: they'll erupt. They've been heavily suppressed by the wind these last few days and will make up for it big time on the next decent day, and the wind is at last forecast to drop... 

The good news is that a nice anticyclone is forecast to come in soon...

 

 

Struggling at Fermyn

A few years ago when I first visited Fermyn I thought it was so easy, Emperors would literally fall at my feet screaming out to be photographed. These last couple of seasons I've struggled. Everyone I speak to have counts of 20, 30 or more, today (28th) I saw 9 and 4 of these were on the deck and only one in pretty decent condition. Actually I thought there was a dearth of butterflies today, maybe 10 SWFs and half a dozen WAs, Commas and Ringlets were most numerous but compared to my visit to Foxley last week even these were poor. Perhaps it's me, this might be my 'bogey' wood or maybe I should take up stamp collecting or morris dancing!

Who needs smelly shrimp paste when a nice fox leaves lunch!

Seen better days

Sun 26th & Mon 27th

A depression is firmly stuck over Ireland, generating fresh SW winds. It can't move away, we've got to wait for it to fill...

This is really annoying as Purple Emperors hate wind... And this wind will hold the emergence up.

Sun June 26th was a day for working north-facing and some east-facing edges only. The Emperors had gathered there. I managed to see 42 at Knepp by working these more sheltered edges, but Neil did better and saw 73 (in a longer day). All males, only two females have been seen so far this season at Knepp.

Please note that the males will use all types of trees, if they're in the right situation, including conifers. At Knepp on Sunday, a clump of 8 pine trees along a north-facing edge was being used by at least six males, despite the presence of nearby oaks - 

Males were still coming down to feed on the tracks, despite the wind.

I went home on Sunday evening, not least because I wanted to check the five pupae I have staked out near Cirencester today, and the forecast was poor. The five are still firmly abed, probably being held up by cold nights. Here's 'Jacob', today, we've been following him for months - 

Very few people ventured out today, due to the wind and cloud. I'm heading back to Knepp tomorrow, though the wind will again be problematic.

It looks as though Purple Emperors are now on the wing throughout the Empire, with the possible exceptions of the counties of Wiltshire and Notts (from the 'known' counties). 

With the exception of Knepp, the butterfly is as yet still only out in low but promising numbers. It is still early days, though the peak season period will begin this weekend, if not before. Skip the wedding, or whatever it is this weekend: Go Emperoring...

Alice Holt

Spent a very blustery morning at Alice Holt with not much to show except good numbers of Silver Washed Fritillary and White Admiral. Just before we got back to the car a chap was in the ditch at the edge of the ride and he called out “Emperor” - sure enough there amongst the grass, on the most enormous pile of poo, was a box fresh Emperor. He hung around for fifteen minutes or so consuming his disgusting breakfast, constantly flicking his wings to rid himself of annoying flies before heading up into the breezy canopy. A fortuitous encounter. 

Sunday Morning Update...

A quickie to say that Purple Emperors have now been seen in all known counties within the Empire except Wilts, Glos, Worcs and Notts - though I for one don't have the time to trawl through the UKButts and BC Branch websites, much as I'd like to...

Feel free to wing info to me, especially via Twitter @MatthewOates76 as my email is playing up...

Also, watch this space on this, but congrats to Dave Law who followed a larva through to pupation in east Dorset, which has produced a huge black & red Hymenopteran parasitic wasp. The wasp has gone off to Gavin Broad at the BM NHM for ID. This is Very Exciting and I'm terribly envious... It may be Psilomastax pyramidalis but let's wait on the ID...

If you're having probs posting on this Blog then send blurb to webmaster Derek, and he'll post it.  

Numbers Building at Fermyn

I made the pilgrimage to Fermyn Woods for what was my second visit this year. Parking opposite the Welland Gliding Club, the walk through Cherry Lap was fruitless again on the Purple Emperor front. That said, I'm not reading too much into that because it was fairly early in the morning, it was still quite cool due to the Moderate Breeze that was blowing, and virtually all of the ride up to the first corner was in shade. As I walked through the wood something didn't seem right, it felt too early: only the odd Spear Thistle was showing a bit of colour and there was an absence of Silver-washed Fritillaries, which usually abound when one is searching there for Purple Emperors. I pressed on. After the slog across the field, I entered Lady Wood and then turned right at the fork in the track. I set about dispersing my arsenal of potions and it was only a matter of a few minutes later when a male Purple Emperor flew low along the track and circled down onto one of my concoctions. Here he stayed for 39 minutes.

After a few photos, I decided to walk "the loop" and met up with Mark Joy. We carried out a  circuit together and recorded sightings of 23 male Purple Emperors, 10 of which were grounded.

When nearing the end of the circuit, I spotted a mating pair of White Admirals, which were being blown across the track by the strong wind and they ended up on the top of a Sallow tree. We were delighted to both witness this, something I have never seen before. The other thing of note whilst transiting our route was the sighting of 6 Hummingbird Hawk-moths, all rapidly blazing past us.

All in all, despite the wind, a great day out at Fermyn in great company.

A Day of Searching and Struggling at Alice Holt

 The weather was not being very sporting today at Alice Holt, Hants. There was a stiff breeze to contend with and the cloud was winning the battle with the sun. i was playing the waiting game late morning into the afternoon. As nothing was happening Emperor wise I decided to have a walk along the track and almost immediately I saw a male Purple Emperor very briefly circling an oak. This happened again a bit further on along the track. I reckon I saw 3 individuals in separate brief sightings, into mid-afternoon. I then switched to Goose Green where I fared much better seeing 3 including 2 males chasing around the top of the trees, the other male staying well away on another oak. It was a bit of a struggle to see any well today, the final sighting was at 16.38 which is when I called it a day. I'm sure a lot more would have been visible if the weather had been more settled and sunny. On the other hand White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary numbers were going through the roof. Possibly the most I have ever seen here of both species. Did also see a few Purple Hairstreak and a Hobby flew over. I'm tempted to visit again in a week or so on a better warm sunny day for a better Purple experience. 

Leeward!

A windy spell is upon us. EMPERORS HATE WIND, not least because it's windier and cooler up there in their world than down here in ours... In windy weather, only look for them on sheltered, leeward edges - even if that's the shady side.

Today was rather a struggle at Knepp, as the site is particularly exposed to southerly winds. Normally-favoured edges were vacant, and the cloud cover meant that the butterflies were only active during the brighter breaks. There was a reasonably bright couple of hours from 2-4pm, when males were searching the sallows for females and trying to establish territories on the leeward side of oaks. 

Just before that bright spell ended, I saw my first FEMALE of the year - being hotly pursued by a posse of no less than three males. This was over low and open hawthorn scrub some way from the nearest sallow thicket or oak clump, suggesting that this courtship flight might have been going on for some time. 

Elsewhere, the first Purple Emperors have now been seen in Warwickshire. It seems that the butterfly is as yet only out in low numbers in most sites and districts.  

Batten down the hatches!  

Midsummer Day

This is indeed turning into an extremely good Purple Emperor season, almost certainly the best since 2018 - if the weather holds.  

At Knepp today, we had 16 down to baits along the hard tracks and some impressive showings up in the oak canopy - strings of 3s and 4s, and there's a lot more to emerge. I wasn't able to do any counts as I was showing groups around, but was seriously wowed by what I saw.

Here's a male pausing after cleaning his tongue on bramble, after a feed -

And here's another feeding - 

Elsewhere, Purple Emperors have been seen in low numbers in several counties, including Kent, Essex, Herts, Middx, Suffolk, Norfolk, Northants, Surrey, Hants and Oxon. Some counties don't seem to have kicked off yet, notably Warwicks, Wilts and the two northern outposts, Leics and Notts - but I may not have heard.

To the woods, the lot of you, this weekend - and don't come back till you've seen HIM...

Visiting Knepp

As I've long suspected, this looks like a very good Purple Emperor season. Today, I counted 15 on the Knepp PE transect, which is excellent for Week 1. Perhaps this year may even rival the annus mirabilis of 2018...

Better still, males are coming down to feed on the hard tracks: 7 yesterday, 6 today including two together - here's Neil getting at them (a special moment for the ladies, he hopes...) 

and here's my best effort from another grounded male, today - 

We've baited the hard tracks specially for you... They stink. The cows have added their bit too...

If you're visiting - and this weekend looks great - please park in the main Walkers Carpark at Dialpost and walk on down. It's a hike. Bring food and drink. 

Pick up the Purple Emperor Walk guide from the Go Down / shop and follow its map route, which is also marked out on the ground by purple ribbons, with purple bunting marking where to stand to view the best male territories. Do read the blurb, it tells you where and how to look. Here's some bunting - 

Enjoy...

PS  FERMYN WOODS KICKED OFF TODAY, and Norfolk. It's all happening. Don't miss out on the 2022 Purple Emperors...

Norfolk's Away.

Took a trip over to Foxley Wood today (23rd) more in hope than expectation. Nice to see my first White Admirals of the year and when a stubborn bank of cloud moved off the first Silver-washed Frits appeared. Sitting on a shady bench watching the Ringlets jinking about and Emperors of the ode variety patrolling the ride mid morning this fellow popped down right in front of me to say hi! If you are planning a trip the car park gate was locked for some reason today so you may have to park elsewhere or do as I did and go through the exit!

Flourescing Pupae and Back to Knepp

Last night, Mrs O and I found three Purple Emperor pupae in an hour, by searching with The Beast, a powerful UV torch you have to get from Amazon USA. That seems to be about par for a good Emperor site, and is about as many I'd expect to find of the more numerous eggs in an hour at a good site in July. 

So far this year, Emperor pupae have been found by UV torch in six counties, including Leics and Notts at the northern edge of the known range. This is a Major Breakthrough... I'll have to rewrite the book...  Here's one from last night, you can spot them from 15-20m -

At Knepp, Emperors continue to come out steadily. We saw the first Empress of the year here today, but it is still very early days indeed. Big Bang (mass emergence) should be fairly imminent, perhaps starting on Friday. Purple Hairstreak is only just starting to get going.  

Here's Neil, my partner in crime, picking up an Emperor and putting it on his nose. Don't ask why -

PS  First sighting in Northants today. Not Fermyn, but down near Silverstone. Fermyn should kick off soon.

 

Summer Solstice...

And the sun shone unblemished throughout...

I didn't go out today (but am going out this evening with the UV torch versus flourescing pupae), but it looks as though today saw the first decent emergence of the year at Knepp - it's still very early days there, with Purple Hairstreak Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral only just starting there, and Marbled White and Ringlet only just getting going.

A promising number of sightings from the north London (Herts & Middx) area today, but a lot of sites / counties still haven't started.  

Another wave of immigrant Painted Ladies and Red Ads.

I'm heading back to Knepp tomorrow...

This has the makings of a very good Purple Emperor season... ... ...

Nice Hatch Today

Briefly, because I'm knackered, a promising show of males at Knepp today, with at least six feeding down on the tracks (which Neil has baited with shrimp paste solution), and a trio behaving appallingly in one of the favoured territories down Green Lane.

The Knepp Purple Emperor Trail is officially up and running. Pick up the annotated map from the Go Down and follow the purple ribbon - viewpoints for major territories are highlighted by bunting (it's not all up yet). Here's me putting the stuff up -

Elsewhere in the Empire, first sightings in Hatfield Forest and Havering Country Park, E London.

Another nice influx of Painted Ladies, Red Ads and Hummingbirds today. This summer is kicking off...

Use the train strike as an excuse to Go Emperoring... ... ...

 

Little Progress Today...

They got the weather forecast wrong today... It seems that most places in The Empire had a very cloudy day, with perhaps an hour or two of brightness around lunchtime, followed by bad light stopped play...

At Knepp, I only saw one - a male chasing off a brace of starlings at 1.45.

Crucially, I haven't seen a definite Purple Hairstreak here yet, and only saw the first Knepp Ringlet today. This indicates that it is still very early in the Purple Emperor season. I think that what we are seeing is a few early males who developed as larvae on early-leafing sallows and were able to pupate before the weather deteriorated for the Jubilee. But it may be that tomorrow will see the first decent emergence of the year. We will see...

I've got to go home tomorrow evening so may not have time to post anything then...

Other news from today: the first Emperors were seen in Epping Forest, another 'early' site.

  

Sat June 18th Update

 This is a most promising start to the Emperor season, though the heatwave has ended (shame!) and many parts of the Purple Empire were cloudy, or even wet today.

In Sussex, I visited my old woods, now Ben Greenaway's woods, north of Knepp in the morning. Someone else saw a male there, but I didn't. White Ad males well out, a smattering of Silver-washed, and a Dark-green - the first there for decades...

At Knepp, a total of 9 males were seen by several observers. I only saw 2 but Neil managed 6. Crucially, males were only wandering through territories and not setting up shop there. Two were seen feeding on the tracks, including this one who had somehow got a hole in a forewing very early on in his life. He flew off strongly though -

It is still very early days in the season here. I still haven't seen a definite Purple Hairstreak yet and only the one Sussex Ringlet...

Good to hear of a sighting from Putney Heath in SW London today.

We're Off!

Welcome to the 2022 Purple Emperor season, which could be an extremely good one (weather permitting)...

I saw three males at Knepp today: 2 males chasing at 12.33, just where I had a distant sighting yesterday which I was loath to claim, followed by two sightings of a singleton in the next ten minutes.

Half a mile away, at 1.30, a pristine male, quite probably on his maiden flight, flew around me two or three times, and almost settled to feed on the track before feeding on sticky oak leaf 3m up above me -

No other sighting for me, perhaps due to the wind, but a lone male was seen at the Hill Farm Territory at Bookham Common in Surrey and another in Alice Holt Forest in Hampshire.  

To the woods, the lot of you... Enjoy...

Twitter: @MatthewOates76 (I wasn't born in 1976, I was reborn; it was the best butterfly summer ever...)

 

Possible Sightings...

I may well have spotted the first Emperor of the year at Knepp today. 

Two sightings, brief, high up and distant, at the back of a known territory, at 2.36 and 2.45. 

But I'm not 100% sure as I was too far away to see the white bands - it was far too big to be a Red Ad, and it pursued a crow, and Silver-washed Fritillary hasn't started here yet. 

My policy is 'If in any doubt chuck it out!', so I'm not claiming it...

Tomorrow perhaps, Saturday certainly...

 

Ready...

  The Purple Emperor flight season continues to be delayed. The cold weather of the long Jubilee weekend further slowed larval & pupal development down, and the weather hasn't yet improved - though it's forecast to. One major problem is cold nights. 

  As an example, the three larvae I'm rearing in a sleeve in my garden entered the final instar on May 16th, which is quite early. However, the weather deteriorated after a warm and fine weekend on May 21st-22nd and they slowed right down. One of them pupated only this morning, with another busy pupating close by -

  These two wont be out before the very end of June, but they're in Gloucestershire, and female, and their male cousins in the sunnier Southeast will start to emerge well before then. 

  It may be that a few larvae on early-leafing sallows in the Southeast were pupating over the weekend of May 21st-22nd, before the weather deteriorated - in which case they may be on the wing this coming weekend (June11th-12th), or in mid-June.  

  The main emergence is now unlikely to start before the weekend of June 18th-19th, and unless you're working an 'early' site you know well my advice is not to bother looking until that weekend.  

  Watch this space, and follow me on Twitter @MatthewOates76 (I wasn't born in 1976, I was reborn then...)

Jubilee Statement

We don't want a monarchy. We don't want a republic. We want an Empire, and a lot of squabbling Emperors...

Revised Flight Season Start: 1pm on Wed June 15th.