Mad dogs and Englishmen…

I spent well over 3 hours out at Chambers Farm Wood today in temperatures in the high 30s. Why, you might ask? Well, for two reasons:

1. To see if there was anyone else out there who was as stupid as I am

    – there wasn't!

2. To see if there would be any Purple Emperor activity out there at the peak temperature of 39 degrees Centigrade

    – there was!

I arrived at Chambers Farm Wood precisely at midday and the temperature was already sitting at 35 degrees Centigrade. As I walked past the barrier it was immediately apparent that something was very different: with every step I took I disturbed 4, or 5 Purple Hairstreaks, which were resting with wings closed on the main stone track in small patches of shade here and there. I have seen this a few times before, but not to this extreme: I counted 377 down low from the barrier up to ‘Fiveways’; there must have been thousands of them on the ground in total throughout the complex. Given the extreme conditions, I thought today, of all days, I was going to have to work hard for any Purple Emperors sightings though. But, as is so often the case, it pays not to second-guess nature – I have learnt my lesson many times over! After just 35 minutes on site, a female Purple Emperor glided past me, low over the track, and then settled on the track, subsequently trying to imbibe little more than dust it seemed! She was soon joined by a male and together they probed the dry substrate together. A little further along the track and another female flew low past me. This one appeared slightly darker in colouration, but as I swivelled around to gain a better look, she quickly disappeared up into the Blackthorn along the ride edge, so I couldn’t confirm whether she was aberrant or not. Another male then appeared and circled round and landed next to the first one on the track, closely followed by a third female. She flew low along the track towards me, went past and then grounded near to the first one I’d seen. This one was much fresher though and appeared from an entirely different direction from the second, darker specimen I’d seen. Looking back down the track past the two grounded males, I could see a third male circling low over the track in the distance, and he too grounded. By now, the temperature was creeping up and now stood at 36 degrees Centigrade. It didn’t seem too bad though because there was a 15mph south-southeasterly blowing and the air movement was slightly cooling. I was amazed to then see a third female Purple Emperor on the ground. If I’d thought about it, I suppose conditions up top were not just on the limit for the Purple Hairstreaks! Progressing on towards ‘Fiveways’, a male Purple Emperor shot past me and then sought some shade up in a Crab Apple tree. I got a few photographs of him before he repositioned himself on the trunk of the Crab Apple tree, deeper under cover. On the temperature front, things were obviously hotting up, and sightings went quiet for about half an hour; I was well past ‘Fiveways’ by this time. I stopped for a well-needed drink and tried to utilise what shade there was. Looking back down the ride towards ‘Fiveways’ I could see another female Purple Emperor flying low along the track, but she flew up and into the vegetation on the ride edge and disappeared from view. As I approached the spot, I couldn’t quite see where she’d gone, but felt sure she had rested up in the small Hazel tree located there; by now, the temperature was a balmy 38 degrees Centigrade! In mitigation, however, there was a Moderate Breeze of 17mph blowing, which took the edge off the heat.

I worked my way back to ‘Fiveways’ and then (always a glutton for punishment) decided to walk up to ‘Minting Triangle’. The walk to ‘Minting Triangle’ and back failed to produce any more Purple Emperor sightings. In fact, I had hardly any butterfly sightings at all on this stretch, so I decided to call it a day. The walk back along the main stone track took me past the spot where I’d initially had success and I was amazed that there was still Emperor activity there - the mercury was hitting 39 degrees Centigrade at this point! There was still a female Purple Emperor on the ground and a second came down as I approached. These were probably two of the ones I’d seen earlier. A male was also flying here; gliding along the track, it looked like only an inch, or two off the ground, but he didn’t land on this occasion. The bizarre Purple Hairstreak phenomenon was starting to cause me concern as a few had paid the ultimate price, wings doubled back exposing the purple iridescence. I hope tomorrow’s chilly 26-degree-Centigrade forecast is more to their liking!

Finally, I got back to the car and left for home; never has the air conditioning felt so good! All in all, one hell of a day out at Chambers Farm Wood, and one that I’ll never forget.  Things didn’t end there though. Back at home in my Coningsby garden, I spent 15 minutes carrying out a count for Butterfly Conservation’s ‘Big Butterfly Count’ between 16:00 and 16:15. Checking the thermometer, the mercury was indicating 40 degrees Centigrade, and I later found out that my home town had recorded the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK at 40.3 degrees Centigrade. That’s 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit in old money! Bonkers!