A red letter day for Middleton and Goodyear in Middlesex/London!

Whilst everyone else is recording large numbers of Purple Emperors we are content with more simple things, just say one or two butterflies. Today it was TWO, but more importantly was where....................about 7.5km from the centre of London at Hampstead Heath. We had been alerted to a report in 2012 from nearby Kenwood but hadn't had the opportunity to visit in what we would say were optimum conditions. We spent two hours sitting by the Spaniards Road, whilst nearby roadworks caused massive queues of traffic passing by watching for an emperor to cross the road...... but at 14:35 after walking onto the heath and then back into the woodland by the road and close to the radio mast we saw two emperors - two chases and regular flights from two individuals in two nearby locations over a period of 1 1/2 hours. One of those special days for us!

From Ashley Whitlock

I think Dan Hoare has had the first encounter with a female this season in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral today.

From Simon Hales

I have been advised to inform you of this Emperor, at Fermyn woods around 10.00am this morning. The wings still look a little crinkled so I assume it is quite fresh. there were two in total today, but this was the only one I personally saw settle

From Ashley Whitlock

Spent the best part of the day in Straits Inclosure and Abbotts Wood Inclosure and finally at two Assembly Points at mid-day and early afternoon. There were no Purple Emperors on the wing at either Straits Inclosure or at Abbotts Wood but I finally espied one flying from East to west and then west to east at Alice Holt Forest (1) at 12:45 and again at 12:55, these views were all too brief over the tallest of the Beech trees and Oak stands at the site, but I've got my stamp now, so things can only get better. 

Knepp madness

Knepp goes nuts!

Hi all, 

After reading Mr Hulme's recent blog on this site and desperate for emperor action my girlfriend and I took the day off and headed to Knepp wildlife safaris today (after drawing a blank, not very surprisingly, at Alice Holt this morning). It was our first time at Knepp and we will be going back..a lot. I have no doubt that Mssrs Oates and Hulme will elaborate more knowledgeably after their emperor tours there, but in brief, Knepp was amazing. 

We saw dozens of Iris there today, between the hours of about 2 and 5.30 pm. From the first tree hide and thereafter along the purple emperor tour on the map that they give you at the visitor centre, it was consistently good with particular hotspots here and there, one just after the pond heading away from the hide. I am no expert and I don't know how many were repeat sightings, but there were a lot around, behaving much more accessibly than at Alice; flying lower, showing in much greater numbers and going to ground (in the distance, in our case). I had to pinch myself at how many there were and how well they were showing. 

At one stage we had three battling a couple of metres above us along the pathway, with another two oak-edging higher up. Later on, we saw one swoop down behind an oak and appear to land on the far side of the trunk, so we crept around behind the tree and there it was, drinking sap. I got to within a metre of it but it was in shade and we saw no purple; still a great moment though. 

We also saw two on the ground but did not get close, alas. The day was rounded off when a large adult common frog plonked itself on my good lady's exposed big toe, eliciting a shriek. And of course we saw deer, buzzards, red kites....and pigs. 

I don't know Knepp but all I can say is that based on the numbers of Iris we saw today, it must be a fabulous site. Not surprising given the huge stands of sallows which are everywhere. Given that it's only the fourth day or so of the season there, we saw a crazy amount of emperors....is this usual here or have we witnessed the start of a bumper season at Knepp? I will be returning next weekend to find out. 

Knepp Goes Large - Again!

Just in time for the annual Festival of Purple at Knepp Castle Estate Wildland (www.knepp.co.uk), the current heatwave has triggered the expected Big Bang event. Matthew turned up for an afternoon recce (3.7.15), logging 27 individuals, including two clashes of x3, numerous x2 altercations, and violent behaviour towards tits, corvids, Turtle Dove and Brother Quercus (indications of a welcome, very strong recovery). Come to Knepp and enjoy the show.

berksbucksoxon kicks off

How's this for dedication to the cause? E-mail from Wendy and Mick Campbell:
"We arrived at Little Wood Oxon at 1pm [30th]. With refreshment we sat down with a good view of the best territory and waited......and waited......at 2.30 HE made his first appearance with a brief flight around the top of the big Ash. We had to wait another 50 minutes before we saw him again, followed by another three flights before we left at 4pm: that is an average of one flight every 36 minutes; obviously conserving energy for the battles and courtship[s] to come!"
None of my 7 home bred specimens have emerged yet.