Saturday, July 5, 2025

Sat July 5th: Gloom, Drizzle & Oak Sapping

Can't remember when we last had a poor day...

But today was grotty at Knepp: as dull as Peterborough (or anywhere else) on a Blue January Monday, with pulses of drizzle.

However, the Emperors carried on feeding in all but the worst of the grot. I managed to see about ten females and half a dozen males, all on or around oak sap feeder trees. 

The place to be was Patrick's Tree -

The best photo I managed was this -


Males have been scarcely using territories all week - except when territories are close to feeder trees. In cloudy weather, when males are on territory, one good way to find whether there's a male present is to send up a drone -


The Emperor sallies forth and attacks the drone, but the downdraught pushed him back, unharmed. Here's a drone (and a distant Easyjet) in a classic canopy gap territory.  




  

 

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