Fri July 8th - a Cow-patting

Delighted to report my first sighting of an Emperor feeding on a cowpat in decades, at Knepp at lunchtime. Here he is -

Cowpats at Knepp are deposited by longhorn cattle which are run to organic standards and are largely self-medicating - whereas conventional modern farm cowpats are stuffed full of antibiotics and powerful wormers which kill invertebrates, and are effectively chemical rather than biological entities. The Emperor has taste.

Numbers continue to remain modest, with Emperors only intermittently active due to periods of cloud. Also, and crucially, from working the unusually open habitats at Knepp it has become clear that Emperors avoid windswept territories and sallow thickets, and are effectively wind-distributed - look leeward for them.

Here's an unusual photo of a male on bramble (it was a random landing late in the day) -

Alice Holt

Had a fine day at Alice today with four groundings including two at once and a thorough trousering - your washing instruction worked a treat Neil thanks.
In all I saw fourteen males most Oak edging with not much Sallow activity but they were quartering the rides and frequently stopping to test the surfaces and very confiding once they found what they were looking for. At one point I had two males and a red Admiral interloper within six feet of one another - and one male decided that my hound would may a good perch and landed on her head much to her bemusement.
All were in pristine condition and my guess would be that they had emerged within the last couple of days.
Considering the less than sympathetic habitat management in recent times this was my best day in this forest for four years.
Kind Regards
Mark

ark 

Three Groundings & a Bedding...

Rather too much cloud around today, with iris only intermittently active.  But it was a day of quality rather than quantity.  

Pleased to be able to report three sightings of Emperors feeding on the ground at Knepp Wildlands (2 males & a female). It looks as though the butterfly is visiting hard core recently put down to fill ruts in a bare earth track.  One sighting was on a cow pat - sightings on cow pats are very rare these days, but the Knepp longhorn cattle are organic and largely self-medicating. Also a male visiting a small bleed in an oak.

Just before 1pm, at a major oak territory, a group of us watched a female rise up into the territory, instantly attract a male and lead him straight away to a spray in the crown of a 10m tall oak. They joined instantly, and remained there in cop, mainly with closed wings, for exactly 3 hours 59 minutes, despite being regularly pestered by passing males trying to muscle in. Beat that folks, if you dare... This is the second longest pairing I've timed (out of 12 instances).  Here's proof of evidence -

News from Fermyn
Thanks to Mark Joy for emailing me to say he visited on Wednesday and struggled to see 2 males, and met many people who'd seen none. Looks like it hasn't got going in Fermyn yet, but it should start to get going there over the weekend. Further news welcome.

Fermyn Patrol

Fermyn Report July 7th

Elements of His Imperial Majesty's Fermyn Light Horse took to the woods today to ascertain if HE had actually got out of bed yet? Wednesday was a fine summer's day, and although the forecast was for a "mixed bag" today, we could not wait any longer to conduct patrols. An early start promised much, but the high cloud and fitful sunshine soon gave way to thicker cloud cover and a cool wind and unbelievably, showers by 08.30 hours. (There had been a grounding in Lady's wood confirmed with a photograph even at this early hour). It did not feel the reported 19-20 degrees in the exposed areas though, and it was 10.30 before another sighting was made in the same area. This individual did not land at this time, but at 12.30 it may have been the same Emperor that landed and taxied to the puddle of shrimp paste bait, where He stayed for around ten to fifteen minutes allowing pictures to confirm his excellent condition, with none of the "damp" patches so often seen on really freshly emerged specimens. I gauge this one to have probably hatched sometime the previous day (Wednesday). The buffeting of the wind finally got too much and he flew off into the sallows. The weather continued to deteriorate until the brief sunny intervals gave way to periods where it just became a little lighter, when we could cast a shadow. Just after 2 p.m. in Souther Wood, we found a couple of enthusiasts with another perfect male on the ground near a puddle. More people turned up and everybody managed decent pictures from this obliging insect, who stayed on the ground even though there was no warming sunlight. I do not suppose there was above 14 people patrolling the woods today, and this was the last Emperor we saw before returning to the car park around 3 p.m. My report ends with confirmation of three individual males, supplemented by sightings of possibly three or four more seen in other parts of the woods. Not much at all for seven and a half hours. There were hardly any other species in any numbers either this July day. Two Commas, Two White Admirals, both pristine; a couple of Silver-Washed Fritillarys were also reported as being seen. It would appear that we are in the early stages of emergence at Fermyn and that we need some settled weather - as promised for next week - before it can be judged if it is to be a poor season overall.

Today in Essex

Matthew may feel the season is poor but for us searching out new areas, just one Purple Emperor leaves us satisfied. So one presumed male at a high point at 1305 even though we saw it only one more time made us happy. Then going into deepest darkest Epping Forest and finding a male on territory in a gap that we have watched most years for the last 15 years was very satisfying. This assembly area had been confirmed two years ago thanks to a work colleague getting access to the adjacent horse paddock. Two years ago we still couldn't find the assembly area from within the wood but it was the one we had been watching all along!!! I see Woodwalton Fen has started with three males at the usual assembly area. Now that is a site to watch!!!!

IRIS IN AUSTRALIA

Himself made the TV in prime time last night here in Australia, courtesy of Stephen Fry and QI. (That's right, we've just got the 2015 series - still only one token girl per episode).