I never thought I'd see Emperors active in 35C, especially in cool, damp, cloudy Gloucestershire, but today I did.
At 12.30, I ventured out for a couple of hours to a lovely park-&-view male territory near Sapperton, west of Cirencester. There were two males there at first, kicking off nastily, but one withdrew (coward!) and the other quietened down, perching in heavy shade on the north side of a tall lime tree -
Most of the butterflies I saw were in deep shade, either along north-facing edges or deep under the canopy. Even Neil Hulme took the day off.
The highest temperature I've butterflyed in is 42C, in Spain. The problem wasn't the heat but the intensity of light, and the fact that the butterflies I was trying to watch went hyper - don't even dream of photographing skippers and Long-tailed Blues in that heat...
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