Some beautiful shots, courtesy of John Carter, from Fermyn - Sunday 5th July.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Weather we like it or not
THURSDAY 9TH JULY:Much Purple magic between the clouds here in Northants. Great to see up to 6 together on a sap bleed high on an oak in late morning, including a female. They kept getting booted out by hornets. Also, a lovely show around a master oak near Corby this afternoon, with 6 together at one point and several vistas of 5 and 4, and 2 females egg laying high in tall old broad-leaved sallows nearby. Gatekeeper still not out here. We only had a few sunny spells after 10.30 though.
Matthew.
WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY:This magnificent Iris season seems to be falling to pieces. Has the wretched jet stream suddenly jumped south again? Much gloom and doom today, with precious little brightness and associated activity. The highlight, whilst Brother Neil and I were filming with BBC NHU in Fermyn, was a female attracting no less than 3 males, before deciding she didn't require any of them and hiding in a high oak spray, the minx. Test Match Special reigned supreme; it is of course the perfect companion to a day's Emperoring. Turn it up Loud.
Matthew (+ Neil, who remained clad all day).
TUESDAY 7TH JULY:The weather has collapsed, presumably a foul Aussie scheme - cloud seeding - to prevent England reclaiming The Ashes with ease.... How else can they hope to retain the urn? Either that, or it's another manifestation of the ECB's incompetence... .
Today, in Fermyn Woods, Iris bounced into action the moment the sun appeared after a deluge. There will not, though, be any good male specimens left after these rains.
Matthew.
Matthew.
WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY:This magnificent Iris season seems to be falling to pieces. Has the wretched jet stream suddenly jumped south again? Much gloom and doom today, with precious little brightness and associated activity. The highlight, whilst Brother Neil and I were filming with BBC NHU in Fermyn, was a female attracting no less than 3 males, before deciding she didn't require any of them and hiding in a high oak spray, the minx. Test Match Special reigned supreme; it is of course the perfect companion to a day's Emperoring. Turn it up Loud.
Matthew (+ Neil, who remained clad all day).
TUESDAY 7TH JULY:The weather has collapsed, presumably a foul Aussie scheme - cloud seeding - to prevent England reclaiming The Ashes with ease.... How else can they hope to retain the urn? Either that, or it's another manifestation of the ECB's incompetence... .
Today, in Fermyn Woods, Iris bounced into action the moment the sun appeared after a deluge. There will not, though, be any good male specimens left after these rains.
Matthew.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Upper Thames report number 3
the owner of one of our woods is dead keen on making his woods the best in bucks for HIM; he has more sallow per 100 sq m than any other wood around here; this season he was rewarded when 16 were seen along 400m of his rides [3 times more than ever before]. He has also done something for us by constructing a viewing platform: see picture.
I haven't the heart to tell him that it is not high enough!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Nothing to report today due to cool and showery conditions. The afternoon was almost a write-off. Iris was up late this morning due to cool temperatures and was confined largely to the main breeding grounds in Fermyn Woods - the dense sallow jungles. These jungles are surprisingly low and open, with much open ground (rank Deschampsia and Calamagrostis - Grasshopper Warbler country) and sallows in the 2-5m range + scattered young oaks etc. I am convinced that iris is a creature of scrubland, not forest, and not necessarily even of woodland.
MATTHEW.
MATTHEW.
upper thames report number 2
In UT we never have, and we probably never will, match Surrey, Sussex, and Hants, or Fermyn for numbers. However, in life everything is relative. We are all overcome here in berksbucksoxon with the iris explosion. It started on July 4th. We had our annual two day field meeting in Bernwood Forest. Eighteen [people!] turned up on the Saturday, and ten on the Sunday. By our standards we were treated to a feast of purple. On Saturday, 17 individuals were seen, and on Sunday [poorer weather], 10. Of course, these are pathetic numbers compared with what Matthew, Doug, Neil & co are reporting from Alice Holt, Southwater and Fermyn. However, this is at least twice as many as we have ever seen in a weekend in this forest. When I got home, I realised 'something was up' in middle England when the e-mails started coming in from other woods in the UT region. Everybody was reporting 2 to 3 times more sightings than ever before. Our best observer, Dave Wilton [a retired air traffic controller: he misses nothing!] reported 16 from one wood where we had never seen more than 5 in a day. He also visited a very small wood [excellent for pruni], where, before 2008, we had never seen iris. Two were seen for the first time last year: one by Dave, and one by the owners of the wood who ran over a male in their 4WD as they drove down the main ride. On 4th July this year, Dave found 4 there. So, he had a total of 20 in a day, compared with 5 for these two woods in a 'normal' year. This pattern was repeated in several other woods.
From deepest Berkshire, a member has reported that he sits in his garden and every year sees 'several iris' on an Oak just on the other side of his fence which is in a school playing field. The other day, he waited until the end of school [3.30] and ventured into the field. He walked along the line of Oaks and saw '5 to 6' on every Oak. These Oaks are on a high point leading away from a very large forest nearby. I will visit this gentleman this week to see for myself. I will need to take some Valium with me to calm me down, in case it's true.
From deepest Berkshire, a member has reported that he sits in his garden and every year sees 'several iris' on an Oak just on the other side of his fence which is in a school playing field. The other day, he waited until the end of school [3.30] and ventured into the field. He walked along the line of Oaks and saw '5 to 6' on every Oak. These Oaks are on a high point leading away from a very large forest nearby. I will visit this gentleman this week to see for myself. I will need to take some Valium with me to calm me down, in case it's true.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Emperor's Breakfast
Staging The Emperor's Breakfast in Fermyn Woods, only breakfast rather misfired as it clouded up for the key part of the day. In the end, Afternoon Tea was served - just after Mike Dilger and the BBC film crew departed (one male on pickled mud fish, another on shrimp paste, and a camilla on the table cloth). Lots of silly photos to appear in due course.
Brother Neil appeared, and managed to keep all his clothes on. He also achieved the dream photo of a pristine male showing all 4 wings fully purple. He also had one land on his right foot.
We must have seen a good 50 males, and just the lone Empress. At one point Neil saw 2 groups of 4 chasing males. Lots more 'sallow searching' and at times males patrolling the oak edges adjacent to the breeding grounds.
Why are Fermyn Woods so good for iris? Ans: there are some 600 acres of dense sallow jungle, compared to 60 in Alice Holt, itself a great iris forest (+ good rideside sallows in both). QED.
Matthew.
Brother Neil appeared, and managed to keep all his clothes on. He also achieved the dream photo of a pristine male showing all 4 wings fully purple. He also had one land on his right foot.
We must have seen a good 50 males, and just the lone Empress. At one point Neil saw 2 groups of 4 chasing males. Lots more 'sallow searching' and at times males patrolling the oak edges adjacent to the breeding grounds.
Why are Fermyn Woods so good for iris? Ans: there are some 600 acres of dense sallow jungle, compared to 60 in Alice Holt, itself a great iris forest (+ good rideside sallows in both). QED.
Matthew.
Rehearsals for Breakfast
At noon today (BST) the Executive Committee of The Purple Empire issued the following instruction to all those of Purple Pursuasion -
On no account is the Scandinavian fermented herring indelicacy known as Surstromming to be used, as a bait for iris or any other purpose. It seriously compromises human, canine, vulvine and Apaturine health and is henceforth banned.
(This is the first time the Purple Empire Executive Committee has ever done anything.)
Lady Wood, Fermyn. Probably at least 40 iris males + 1 female today. I was staging a dress rehearsal for tomorrow's Emperor's Breakfast event. It worked spectacularly well, tho many were attracted down by the delicious aromas only to visit the ride surface. At one point I had 2 males and a Comma down on one small shrimp paste bait. Also saw some nice oak-edging behaviour and sallow-searching, tho it doesn't look as tho there are many females out here yet. Hardly a butterfly photographer all day, which is odd. Presume they were all down south after Iole....
MATTHEW.
On no account is the Scandinavian fermented herring indelicacy known as Surstromming to be used, as a bait for iris or any other purpose. It seriously compromises human, canine, vulvine and Apaturine health and is henceforth banned.
(This is the first time the Purple Empire Executive Committee has ever done anything.)
Lady Wood, Fermyn. Probably at least 40 iris males + 1 female today. I was staging a dress rehearsal for tomorrow's Emperor's Breakfast event. It worked spectacularly well, tho many were attracted down by the delicious aromas only to visit the ride surface. At one point I had 2 males and a Comma down on one small shrimp paste bait. Also saw some nice oak-edging behaviour and sallow-searching, tho it doesn't look as tho there are many females out here yet. Hardly a butterfly photographer all day, which is odd. Presume they were all down south after Iole....
MATTHEW.
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