Pause for Breath

There has been virtually no Irisian activity since Monday evening due to a stagnant area of low pressure sitting overhead. The Emperors will not have been decimated, as they can sit out this sort of weather with some ease (summer gales really knock them out, not yesterday and today's cool calm cloud or the slow steady rain of Tuesday afternoon).

At Knepp yesterday and today, they were appearing with every glimmer of brightness, but vanishing whenever the sky glowered. The are desperate to become active, and will erupt when the sun next shines - on Saturday.

Saturday should be terrific. The butterfly will be at peak season. Don't miss out - skip the family wedding, sell the kids into slavery, cancel the mortgage interview, and be there...

A Lesser Being

Iris is here too, but the lesser purple, Apatura ilia, is rather more common at the moment. Also having an excellent season is the False Comma, Nymphalis vau-album, which we've seen at four different localities in the past few days. False Comma is a terrible name, we've renamed it the Splendid Tortoiseshell.

Gornji Krivodol, Serbia

the dangers when you photograph iris

These two pictures were taken by Nick Board, 'our man in north Bucks'.
They are of the same two specimens, photos taken one minute apart. One would be forgiven for concluding, if you received only the photo where they are very close together, that we are dealing with females. The other photo shows quite clearly that they are males!

Wolfing it Down

Apatura ilia not averse to sharing a tasty bit of wolf poo first thing this morning. Topli Do, Serbia

Have you found Richard's keys?

My name is Richard Tyler and I was in Fermyn Wood today looking at those beautiful emperors.

During the day I managed to lose my car key (hole in trouser pocket). Non descript keyring with 

VW Tiguan car key and house key attached. 

Should by any remote chance some body has found them and contacted your blog

I would be extremely grateful to know.

Thank you.

Kind regards

Richard Tyler

(Please contact Richard if you can help. His email is richardtyler@live.co.ku, but swap the last two letters. )

Purple Paradise

On Monday I joined Matthew and Exeter University student Harry Drew, to monitor Purple Emperor and other butterfly numbers over the Knepp Castle Estate Wildland. This was another very thorough and widespread survey, extending over much of the Southern Block, starting at 9.00 am and continuing until the emperors finally stopped flying at 7.40 pm.

Using the 4x4 'mule' we were able to penetrate deep into the seldom-visited parts of the wilderness, to experience a grand finale of 'big sky' and spectacular sunset, as an already-mated empress spiralled to the ground, in an attempt to shake off her suitor. At times being at Knepp can really feel like being in Africa.

The hard-won tally for Harry and I reached 138 Purple Emperor, with Matthew seeing a very similar number, having taken a slightly different route at times. The species has reached peak but the numbers are so vast that the season will run for some weeks yet. Only 8 of those seen were females, several being on sap-runs. Activity was supressed by heat for much of the day, but things became really lively after 6.00 pm. During our travels we also saw 3 Silver-washed Fritillary, 2 White Admiral, 2 White-letter Hairstreak and my first Gatekeeper of the year.

There has also been a huge emergence of Purple Hairstreak, which is best seen in the early and mid evening. We found 6 freshly emerged male hairstreaks on the ground during the morning, which seemed to be searching for moisture amongst the Fleabane and grasses. The numbers seen after 6.30 pm were simply phenomenal, with bundles of up to 15, and 20 - 30 seen simultaneously on some trees. Matthew commented that this was the best showing he has experienced since the long, hot summer of 1976. This is the year to look for this species.

One wonders just how good the Knepp Wildland can get. There is simply nowhere else quite like it.

Bentley Wood

With my holiday imminent and the weather set to crash over the next few days I set off for a quick look at Bentley . Arrived in full sunshine and 21degrees and headed out down the switchback path . Within 50 metres I saw a large dark butterfly circling the ground , it being an immaculate male . Unfortunately as I was about to get a pic a dog frightened it off . This was the best chance of the morning but another 3 separate males were seen in the canopies. According to the log book HIM was first seen on the 19th so probably not yet at its peak , even though an entry was made yesterday of 10 sightings . Compared to last year numbers already seem up .