Not too much happening on the Purple front today, on this the opening day of the old coarse fishing season.
At Knepp, no big emergence yet, and none recorded feeding down on the tracks again (but the tracks are all dry and devoid of cowpats etc.).
Males were seen sallow searching (for females, and female pupae) for the first time this year.
Instead, we had a significant influx of Painted Ladies, including this lovely female -
For an hour around noon, Ladies were moving due north at an impressive rate.
This is good news, as male immigrant Ladies can be highly territorial, setting up territories in canopy gaps from mid-afternoon - and sparring off with Enperors. Immigrant Lady males are the only butterfly in the UK which can compete with Emperor males on territory, so expect some good dog fights up in the canopy.
I'm expecting a good emergence of Emperors soon - Big Bang (the main emergence) must be imminent.
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