From Francis Farrow in Norfolk

In 2017 I spotted my first PE at Beeston Common, Norfolk. Since then we have had sightings of one or two in 2018 and 2019. Last Monday (July 20) I spotted a PE soaring at tree-top height from one group of oaks to another about 20m away and then back again. As it was overhead I could not determine whether it was male or female. 

This afternoon I saw a PE leaving a sallow and fly up into the canopy of an oak next to it. I did see the upper side this time but only as a dark colour so still not sure whether it is male or female. As this is the fourth year of PEs at this location I think they must be breeding in the vicinity, especially as it is the same oak/sallow they are mostly seen in, although we never see them until the final two weeks of July, which seems later than other places.

Foreign Sighting

Not the best season here in Odiham, nth Hampshire but did manage one interesting sighting at a potential new assembly point near the Basingstoke Canal, very close to home. Surely can't have overlooked it for the past 2 decades can I? Oh dear, probably.

Anyway as the weather deteriorated was lucky enough to head off to France for a week's fishing in the countryside just south of Limoges. And as luck would have it we were visited on the balcony of our fishing lodge. The owner is now a man of Purple.....

Better results at CFW - Friday 17th July 2020

Finally got some semi-decent weather this season at Chambers Farm Wood, Lincolnshire, which produced a semi-decent result of 15 Purple Emperors (13 males and 2 females). I was surprised to find that most looked in pretty good condition (wings showing little sign of damage) and it was good to see strong aerial activity from the males, as they manoeuvred around the Oak trees; I have witnessed very little of this type of behaviour this season.  And, just as I spotted the second female, a male flew in and they both disappeared up into a Sallow together, which is encouraging! With a good weather forecast for the early part of next week, perhaps it brings a little more hope for some better results.

Closure at Knepp

Folks. I'm officially closing the 2020 Knepp Wildland Purple Emperor season down. They've had a shocker (but not at bad as the W-L Hairstreak which has been almost non-existent here).  

There will be the odd one around for the next week or so, resultant from late-pupating larvae, but they are already so scarce that Neil and I are really struggling to see them - and we know precisely where and when to look. 

In effect, don't travel long distances to visit Knepp any longer this year (and the storks have fledged too). 

I just hope the females have laid enough eggs, but as things stand the prospects for 2021 are not good... ... ...

‘Lift Off’ in Lincolnshire

Today, I met up with Dave Wright and Richard Smyth at Chambers Farm Wood, Lincolnshire. From the start the weather seemed against us, which seems par for the course this year; thick cloud with the occasional shower was forecast for the morning, with a brighter outlook for the afternoon. Nevertheless, we persevered and decided to walk down to Little Scrubbs Meadow whilst it was overcast. In an all-too-brief patch of sunshine, lasting no more than a few minutes, we were surprised to get a brief glimpse of a male Purple Emperor flying over the top of the Oaks at 09:20, but, as the sun disappeared, the butterfly quickly settled up in the gods. We pushed on to the meadow and spent some time there whilst conditions were poor, but as the light level improved, we diverted to the southern part of the wood, where we thought our chances of seeing an Emperor were greater. Here we spent the rest of the morning and were rewarded we three further sightings of male Purple Emperors, the first flying around a Sallow, the other two higher up around Oak trees.

After lunch back at the cars, we covered the northern part of the wood, venturing first up to an area known as Fiveways and then beyond to Minting Triangle. This part of the wood was good for White Admiral, Purple Hairstreak and Silver-washed Fritillary, but we didn’t have a single Purple Emperor sighting at all. On the walk back to the car, we had one last look along the main stone track running south and saw a Purple Emperor in the distance circling low to the ground. As we approached it landed on the track and allowed us to get a few photographs.

Going Over Fast At Knepp...

A very frustrating day at Knepp, thwarted by convective cloud. My guess is that iris is starting to go over here fast, having been savaged by foul & abusive weather (it's an unusually exposed site).

However, the cloud prevented me from making a proper assessment. I struggled to see eleven today, though this included a pristine female and one male in quite good condition (the bulk, though, were seriously worn and torn).  

Conclusion: don't travel far to see the Emperor at Knepp any longer this year, and don't bother at all after Monday. The odd one will be around for another week or two but the season is ending here...

The season will last a while longer at less exposed and later-flying sites, but numbers seemingly everywhere have been extremely disappointing - the weather did the dirty on us big time...

Here's a worn male feeding on a high sap run this evening.

Wind Damage

This storm-damaged male was found crawling along the track at Knepp yesterday. All we could do is take him up to one of the tree houses, to give him a bit of height. He may be capable of flight in calm conditions. We found that someone had placed a nice sliver of shrimp paste there, so he fed on that. 

Purple Emperor males roost high up in trees and are highly vulnerable to gales, especially at night. This season, we had night gales on June 28th and 29th, and then three days and nights of strong winds around July 3rd and 4th. The females seem to roost lower down and so be less vulnerable.

As yesterday was cloudy, I don't yet know how much damage has been done but suspect that it is considerable (possibly two-thirds of the male population killed off?). 

Consequently, I would advise against people driving long distances to see the butterfly, especially to Knepp which is an exposed site.

The weather forecasts suggest that I'll be able to assess the damage at Knepp on Friday. I'll report back...

We'v been lucky, in that we've had a long run of good-weather Emperor seasons... Purple Hairstreak numbers have also been depleted and at Knepp, at least, the poor White-letter Hairstreak has had a shocker.