Nice Hatch Today

Briefly, because I'm knackered, a promising show of males at Knepp today, with at least six feeding down on the tracks (which Neil has baited with shrimp paste solution), and a trio behaving appallingly in one of the favoured territories down Green Lane.

The Knepp Purple Emperor Trail is officially up and running. Pick up the annotated map from the Go Down and follow the purple ribbon - viewpoints for major territories are highlighted by bunting (it's not all up yet). Here's me putting the stuff up -

Elsewhere in the Empire, first sightings in Hatfield Forest and Havering Country Park, E London.

Another nice influx of Painted Ladies, Red Ads and Hummingbirds today. This summer is kicking off...

Use the train strike as an excuse to Go Emperoring... ... ...

 

Little Progress Today...

They got the weather forecast wrong today... It seems that most places in The Empire had a very cloudy day, with perhaps an hour or two of brightness around lunchtime, followed by bad light stopped play...

At Knepp, I only saw one - a male chasing off a brace of starlings at 1.45.

Crucially, I haven't seen a definite Purple Hairstreak here yet, and only saw the first Knepp Ringlet today. This indicates that it is still very early in the Purple Emperor season. I think that what we are seeing is a few early males who developed as larvae on early-leafing sallows and were able to pupate before the weather deteriorated for the Jubilee. But it may be that tomorrow will see the first decent emergence of the year. We will see...

I've got to go home tomorrow evening so may not have time to post anything then...

Other news from today: the first Emperors were seen in Epping Forest, another 'early' site.

  

Sat June 18th Update

 This is a most promising start to the Emperor season, though the heatwave has ended (shame!) and many parts of the Purple Empire were cloudy, or even wet today.

In Sussex, I visited my old woods, now Ben Greenaway's woods, north of Knepp in the morning. Someone else saw a male there, but I didn't. White Ad males well out, a smattering of Silver-washed, and a Dark-green - the first there for decades...

At Knepp, a total of 9 males were seen by several observers. I only saw 2 but Neil managed 6. Crucially, males were only wandering through territories and not setting up shop there. Two were seen feeding on the tracks, including this one who had somehow got a hole in a forewing very early on in his life. He flew off strongly though -

It is still very early days in the season here. I still haven't seen a definite Purple Hairstreak yet and only the one Sussex Ringlet...

Good to hear of a sighting from Putney Heath in SW London today.

We're Off!

Welcome to the 2022 Purple Emperor season, which could be an extremely good one (weather permitting)...

I saw three males at Knepp today: 2 males chasing at 12.33, just where I had a distant sighting yesterday which I was loath to claim, followed by two sightings of a singleton in the next ten minutes.

Half a mile away, at 1.30, a pristine male, quite probably on his maiden flight, flew around me two or three times, and almost settled to feed on the track before feeding on sticky oak leaf 3m up above me -

No other sighting for me, perhaps due to the wind, but a lone male was seen at the Hill Farm Territory at Bookham Common in Surrey and another in Alice Holt Forest in Hampshire.  

To the woods, the lot of you... Enjoy...

Twitter: @MatthewOates76 (I wasn't born in 1976, I was reborn; it was the best butterfly summer ever...)

 

Possible Sightings...

I may well have spotted the first Emperor of the year at Knepp today. 

Two sightings, brief, high up and distant, at the back of a known territory, at 2.36 and 2.45. 

But I'm not 100% sure as I was too far away to see the white bands - it was far too big to be a Red Ad, and it pursued a crow, and Silver-washed Fritillary hasn't started here yet. 

My policy is 'If in any doubt chuck it out!', so I'm not claiming it...

Tomorrow perhaps, Saturday certainly...

 

Ready...

  The Purple Emperor flight season continues to be delayed. The cold weather of the long Jubilee weekend further slowed larval & pupal development down, and the weather hasn't yet improved - though it's forecast to. One major problem is cold nights. 

  As an example, the three larvae I'm rearing in a sleeve in my garden entered the final instar on May 16th, which is quite early. However, the weather deteriorated after a warm and fine weekend on May 21st-22nd and they slowed right down. One of them pupated only this morning, with another busy pupating close by -

  These two wont be out before the very end of June, but they're in Gloucestershire, and female, and their male cousins in the sunnier Southeast will start to emerge well before then. 

  It may be that a few larvae on early-leafing sallows in the Southeast were pupating over the weekend of May 21st-22nd, before the weather deteriorated - in which case they may be on the wing this coming weekend (June11th-12th), or in mid-June.  

  The main emergence is now unlikely to start before the weekend of June 18th-19th, and unless you're working an 'early' site you know well my advice is not to bother looking until that weekend.  

  Watch this space, and follow me on Twitter @MatthewOates76 (I wasn't born in 1976, I was reborn then...)

Jubilee Statement

We don't want a monarchy. We don't want a republic. We want an Empire, and a lot of squabbling Emperors...

Revised Flight Season Start: 1pm on Wed June 15th.