More boil-in-the-bag weather. I love and adore it. Emperors don't though, at least not the older males who conk out for hours on end in semi-shade. The fresher males keep going though, and were nicely active all afternoon here. Some were seen chasing swallows over the oak tops... ... ...
Emperors have now been out at Knepp for 28 days - 4 weeks. Incredibly, there are still fresh-looking males around, and nearly all the females are in very good condition. I suspect there are still several more females to emerge, and perhaps the odd male.
This is an unusually protracted emergence, which I said I felt would happen several weeks back. Knepp may have a seven week season this year, unless they shoot over in this heatwave (as they might).
Ashley Whitlock saw two pristine males at West Harting Down in W Sussex today, suggesting a protracted emergence there too.
The females are spending a lot of time feeding on oak sap, like this girl today -
who then went off to clean her tongue in a hawthorn hedge -
I also had a close encountered with a female in a sallow -
Incidentally, Large Tortoiseshell was seen at Knepp today and yesterday, but is proving very elusive.
Onward!
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