Another visit to Fermyn - Sunday 7th July

The allure of Fermyn proved to much again and I visited again on Sunday (7th July). If I could have ordered the weather for Sunday it would have been similar to that which was forecast: it had rained the day before, meaning there would be plenty of moisture down in the track, and a balanced mixture of sun and cloud would hopefully mean that butterflies would not spend much of the day roosting up.



On arrival at the woods, just before 08:00, there seemed to be a little more cloud than I had hoped, but nevertheless it was fairly bright. A cool East North East wind was blowing, but it was light at around 5 mph and the temperature was 15 degrees Centigrade. I set off in anticipation of good Emperor numbers following the 23 I had recorded on Friday, expecting to see at least this number, if not more.



A slow walk through Cherry Lap produced nothing on the Emperor front. I was well into the Lady/Souther Wood complex, having turned right at the first fork, before I thought I had a glimpse of a Purple Emperor disappearing over the top of a pine tree at 09:05, but couldn't be 100% certain, so couldn't count it. My first, definite Purple Emperor sighting was at 09:20, a male gracefully gliding over the oaks, just past the large Cypress conifers. This was shortly followed by another at 09:26, a male down on the track this time; it was in pristine condition and I would suggest it was less than a day old. Off to a good start, but it was exactly another hour before the next sighting a bit further along the ride. This individual flew along the ride and landed in almost the precise position that the previous one had vacated, but this was a different individual with a slight nick out of the tornus of its right-hand forewing. Otherwise, it was in good condition with very little rubbing. A similar thing happened with a third male landing in the same area, this one with the tiniest segment missing from the margin of its right-hand hindwing. And again, it was very fresh apart from this.

Whilst I was getting a few sightings and had been lucky to see 3 down on the ground, there just wasn't the aerial activity that I had expected, especially considering the fact that conditions seemed to be good. And by the time I had walked all of the way back through Cherry Lap Wood to the car for lunch, I had only seen 9 individuals. The last of these was a male down on the track in Cherry Lap Wood at 12:24 and would prove to be the only Purple Emperor sighting that I was to have in this wood all day!


After lunch I made my way back to the Lady/Souther Wood complex, but visited different areas from the morning. Only 2 further Emperor sightings were recorded, the first of which wasn't until 16:01!

In summary, low numbers, but incredibly fresh.


Final Score:


Cherry Lap

1 male Purple Emperor


Lady/Souther Wood

10 male Purple Emperors

Sallow Quality

Sallows flowered prodigiously this spring, so much so that at many Purple Emperor sites sallow foliage was very late in developing. Many sallows, notably the narrow-leaved varieties, didn't come into leaf properly before late May. This is probably a reaction to stress caused by last summer's drought.

Whatever the cause, it may result in an unusually protracted emergence this year, at both site and district level. This is evident at Knepp, where less than ten females have been seen so far - and the season kicked of there on June 25th. It may also explain why only a single Emperor has been seen so far this season in Straits Inclosure, in Alice Holt Forest.

Today, I visited a new site near Swindon-where-the-shadows-lie, a vast jungle of sallow over a large abandoned arable field. Sallow quality there was terrible, with many bushes dying - after over-flowering in response to drought stress. Thankfully, the broad-leaved varieties were alright and I quickly turned up a new iris colony.  

Third time lucky!

I spent the whole of last weekend (29th/30th June) at Fermyn, enduring temperatures in the 30s on Saturday and enjoying a much cooler Sunday, but drew a total blank on the Emperor front. I decided to make the pilgrimage again yesterday (Friday 5th July) and got there reasonably early at 08:00, but have to confess I did not forego my breakfast!


A slow walk through Cherry Lap Wood from one end to the other and then back to the car, which was parked opposite the gliding club, produced nothing on the Emperor front. Silver-washed Fritillaries, on the other hand, were everywhere and a good count of 60 (51 male, 7 female - one of which was valesina, and a mating pair) was soon amassed. These are clearly benefitting from the ride-widening, which has encouraged nectar sources of Marsh and Spear Thistles to flourish. Alas, only 1 Purple Hairstreak was seen at the top of an Ash tree.



I decided to go back through the wood and on across the field to Lady Wood. I had still drawn a blank until I reached the fork in the ride, just after the row of poplars, when I was delighted to record my first Purple Emperor of the year at 11:30. Here there were 3 males down on the ground, 2 of which stayed for a considerable time. The heat of the day was starting to kick in and so the Emperors' wings were firmy closed together; underside shots were the best I could hope for. Turning right at the fork, another 3 males were seen gliding over the tree-tops, 2 of which were sparring, and one a bit lower down, flying along the ride. As temperatures reached 28 degrees Centigrade, Emperor activity ceased and I failed to see any for exactly 2 hours from 12:41 to 14:41. I then met up with John Wiltshire and Brian Hicks and together we witnessed at least 3 male Emperors flying out of, and then roosting back up in, the large Cypress conifers. Bizarrely, the temperature in the shade of these large conifers was considerably cooler than in other shadier parts of the ride. Further male Emperors were seen, but only one more down on the ground at 16:13, seen by myself and John, as Brian had had to depart slightly earlier. My final tally for Lady Wood was 18 male Purple Emperors. Silver-washed Fritillary numbers were lower in Lady Wood with only 12 males being seen.



There then followed the long walk back to the car, across the field and back into Cherry Lap Wood. On entering Cherry Lap Wood, John and I saw our first male Emperor in this wood this year, but it just flew over the top of some large oaks, never to be seen again! We trudged back to the car and, with the car in sight, we packed our camera gear away. Fatal mistake! In the last 100 metres to the car there were 4 male Emperors down on the track, 2 of which we nearly stepped on. Thankfully we didn't and were able to get the cameras out for a few more photographs.

Final Score:


Cherry Lap
5 male Purple Emperors


Lady Wood
18 male Purple Emperors

A Thought on Numbers...

It looks as though numbers at Knepp are about one-third of 2018's (astronomic) level, and about two-thirds of the norm. If this is an accurate impression, and is being reflected elsewhere, then the butterfly will be unusually hard to see in localities supporting small populations. 

However, the butterfly's emergence is unusually staggered this year, so I may yet need to revise my impression.

Also, I managed to count108 probable individuals at Knepp today. I would have managed more but it was rather too cloudy for them after 3pm. They are still emerging here, especially the females.

I rarely see them feeding on the ground at Knepp, but found this male down on the track this morning, around 10am - 

Fermyn Friday

A hot hard day At Fermyn.  Sightings of Iris were very slow and it was not until the second circuit of Souther, early afternoon, that a couple glided past.  These were then seen hanging about in a large conifer.  On the way back to the car I clocked an Empress in a sallow just by the entrance to the complex then a male near the glider club end car park.  In total eight sightings only one briefly grounded.  Others did much better, getting into double figures!

His majesty puts in an appearance at Savernake

First sighting (as far as I'm aware) of his majesty at Savernake today and what a beauty! Very fresh and even better, a grounding - courtesy of a canine visitor leaving a deposit.

New Boy at Knepp

Yesterday 4.7.19, I fulfilled an ambition and visited Knepp. Having braved the Chichester traffic I still arrived just after 9.00 when the heat was building. Using my colourful little map I picked up at reception I eagerly made my way around the area following the thoughtfully provided purple ribbons. I saw my first male Purple Emperor around 9.30 fleetingly over an Oak and that was it for a while. I was suitably chastised by MRO when I met him and Neil Hulme guiding a group for not seeing more. Just 10 minutes later I was watching a newly emerged female down low on bramble leaves, things were looking up. I walked and walked, even getting lost at one point in the sunny hot conditions, and at around 11.00 the Emperors started to come out to play. I saw around 30 all day around the public rights of way, especially Green Lane. Fantastic views of chasing and effortless flights all around the area. Perhaps the other highlight was an early evening walk with 2 or 3 Purple Emperors chasing each other with around 30+ Purple Hairstreaks annoying them.
Also heard about a female aberration being seen by two lucky observers!
I also saw 3 White Storks thermalling, a Turtle Dove along with my first Gatekeeper of the year. Did not get home until 21.00. Not a bad day out.

Newly emerged female

Female in slightly better light

Tie a purple ribbon round the old oak tree!

One of  three White Storks riding the thrrmals