Sat June 21st: Summer Solstice

And the sun actually shone at the Stonehenge Solstice sunrise...

However, a plume of warm cloud, carrying rain that died before it landed, rather blotted out the morning in the western parts of the Empire (it was on its way to Headingley, to interrupt the test match there).  

And with the afternoon sun, came a Fresh SE wind - a Clouded Yellow wind perhaps...

Further east, conditions were better for Emperoring, and a lot of impressive doings have been reported - many of them involving males feeding on the ground (usually on something vile). Lots of pics like this doing the rounds on social media - 

The year's second female was reported, in Heartwood Forest, Hearts.

Good to hear of (yet another) sighting in Winchester, a truly Purple city, and the butterfly being seen in Suffolk.  

I'm heading back to Knepp (very) early tomorrow. Yesterday, ten were seen in a vista there...