Sunshine & Showers

A Knepp Safari group managed to see 30 male Purple Emperors today, despite a number of showers during a truncated afternoon. No females today.  Most activity was around noon, before the wind got up.  At one point we saw six in as many minutes.  We had two vistas of threesomes.  

We missed out on the male down on hardcore. Sightings of grounded Emperors are rare here, but may perhaps increase now that hardcore has been imported to fill in some of the hollows developing in the track system.  

Here's the best piccy, of a male posing between bouts of sallow searching - 

Fresh male on the ground at Knepp

Last year, very early in the season a male was found on one of the rides at Knepp which is rare for this site. The chances of history repeating itself were slim to none. So finding one this season was quite an achievement.

Although very fresh, it did show signs of wear. Some 20 minutes passed after it had flown off. It reappeared but had suffered further damage to its left forewing.

Herself Appears

Very surprised to see two females at Knepp on Fri July 1st.  That seems rather early in the year for Herself.

One was being ardently courted.  They nearly joined, in the top of an oak, but were blown apart at the crucial moment, leaving the male in state of desperation.

The other was a pale aberration, which Neil and I saw together. This could be a good year for Emperor and White Admiral aberrations, due to cold nights at the start of June impacting on freshly-formed pupae.

Watch this space...

Emperoring at Knepp

For people wanting to discover Knepp Wildlands - 

1  The key area is the 1750 acre block south of the A272 and west of the A24, south of Shipley and west of Dial Post.  

2  Emperors are to be seen around all the sallow thickets, and especially on the leeward side of oaks.

3  Crucially, for photographers: Emperors rarely descend to the ground at Knepp. If you want photos of upper sides go to Fermyn Woods, Northants, where the population is almost as large and both sexes feed readily on the ride floor. The Knepp Emperors are primarily sap run feeders (which may explain why they are so incredibly violent - they're plastered on fermented sap...). At Knepp, you will obtain photos of territorial males perched on relatively low oak trees, from below, only. 

4  Access.  Visitors are welcome.  Please park in the Safari / Camp Site car park to the NW of Dial Post, Satnav RH13 8NN. There are loos there. Elsewhere, parking is very limited or non-existent (and the road verges are very soft this season).  Note that this is a big site and that walking is difficult, due to heavily poached clay - those with wobbly knees or ankles may struggle (I do).

5  Maps of recommended Emperor routes are available at Reception. I've produced maps and recording forms covering named and numbered territories along a recommended route - effectively a Purple Emperor transect. Please complete a form and leave it at Reception. We'll use the data at Knepp, and get it through to BC HQ and BC Sussex.  

6  This is an 'early' site. My guess is that iris will be scarce there after July 20th this year and gone by August.   

7  Neil and I are leading Purple Emperor Safaris (+ seriously good picnic) for the estate over the next few weekends. There are still some spaces available. See www.kneppsafaris.co.uk. Neil and I are both volunteers at Knepp.   

8  Definitely no nets (you'd need at least a 20' net handle anyway, and there are a lot of staff on hand).  

Emperoring at Knepp

For people wanting to discover Knepp Wildlands - 

1  The key area is the 1750 acre block south of the A272 and west of the A24, south of Shipley and west of Dial Post.  

2  Emperors are to be seen around all the sallow thickets, and especially on the leeward side of oaks.

3  Crucially, for photographers: Emperors rarely descend to the ground at Knepp. If you want photos of upper sides go to Fermyn Woods, Northants, where the population is almost as large and both sexes feed readily on the ride floor. The Knepp Emperors are primarily sap run feeders (which may explain why they are so incredibly violent - they're plastered on fermented sap...). At Knepp, you will obtain photos of territorial males perched on relatively low oak trees, from below, only. 

4  Access.  Visitors are welcome.  Please park in the Safari / Camp Site car park to the NW of Dial Post, Satnav RH13 8NN. There are loos there. Elsewhere, parking is very limited or non-existent (and the road verges are very soft this season).  

5  Maps of recommended Emperor routes are available at Reception. I've produced maps and recording forms covering named and numbered territories along a recommended route - effectively a Purple Emperor transect. Please complete a form and leave it at Reception. We'll use the data at Knepp, and get it through to BC HQ and BC Sussex.  

6  This is an 'early' site. My guess is that iris will be scarce there after July 20th this year and gone by August.   

7  Neil and I are leading Purple Emperor Safaris (+ seriously good picnic) for the estate over the next few weekends. There are still some spaces available. See www.kneppsafaris.co.uk. Neil and I are both volunteers at Knepp.   

8  Obviously, no nets (you'd need at least a 20' net handle anyway).  

Kicking Off and Kicking Out

It doesn't take long for all that pent-up aggression to spill out, having been imprisoned in a pupa for nearly three weeks. I arrived at Knepp at 3.30pm. I saw my first adult iris of the year at 3.35pm. By 3.40pm it had attacked a Black-headed Gull, a Purple Hairstreak and a second Emperor.

 

I only had 20 minutes on site before the weather collapsed  and I covered only 250m of the Knepp Castle Estate Wildland. However, I still managed to see five individual males, the third of which was also harassing hairstreaks. A different Purple Emperor seen on average every four minutes, while travelling over an average distance of 50m, and observed attacking innocent biodiversity at an average rate of one victim per 6 minutes 40 seconds, suggests a strong start to the season here. Numbers should be very good by the time of the first Knepp Purple Emperor Safari at the weekend www.kneppsafaris.co.uk

 

 

Doings at Knepp 28th June

I saw two males sallow searching during an hour in mid-morning (then had to leave to do some work, which was a trifle inconvenient).

Neil arrived in mid-afternoon and managed to see five males in 20 minutes before the sun was lost for the day.  Then a spell of heavy rain arrived.  It must be added that Neil spent yesterday photographing an insignificant butterfly in the Cotswolds.  In consequence, he has been elected President of the Entomological Riff-Raff Club.   


On this day 40 years ago, I saw the first males of the incredible 1976 Purple Emperor season...