Arrived in Savernake, on route home, at 12.30. Straight in on a huge male feeding on something left behind by one of the over-many canine visitors. Of course, photos don't show size, but he was a Big Boy (Sav supports an unusually large race). He wasn't fully coloured up, suggesting he'd emerged this morning -
I then went on to do a territories count along Three Oak Hills Drive. Although it was too windy, and it clouded up for the final third (so I had to spot perched males through binoculars, luckily I know the favoured perching spots), I managed to count 13 males and a female (who was being courted, I think successfully but they flew out of sight). I think my highest territories count along 3OHD is 14 males, so this was impressive, especially considering the weather.
Last autumn, I rescued a PE larva from a huge storm-blown sallow, which would have perished. I took it home, and reared it in my garden sleeve, calling it Pet Rescue. (I rear one, two or three each winter, to help me through the winter).
She emerged yesterday evening, having been in the pupal state for 18 days. Today, I took her back home and released her. I placed her on a felled beech trunk. She posed for five minutes and then ascended to bask on beech foliage. I'm going to miss her forever...
More tomorrow, including Apatura iris in the Malverns... I'm going to bed, with my cat.
No comments:
Post a Comment