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.