www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Great to see a different 'take' on PE shots, Greenie. I particularly like the wing shadow in the first one Good luck with the coming visit

10/07/15 part(l)y delayed

Purple Emperor season is upon us, the time of the year where all other things for me at least, have to revolve around a quest to see and photograph a grounded male open-winged butterfly in all his purple splendour. Last Sunday's iffy weather made me give it a miss so it was even more imperative that I make the most of the weekend coming. My mood wasn't helped when my better half dropped a bombshell by saying we'd been invited to a friend's retirement party on Saturday . Under normal circumstances I'd be well up for it, but this could punch a big hole in my plans. With the forecast for Sunday looking iffy (again!) there was no option but to take a day off work. The day I chose was Friday 10th and the venue Abbot's wood Alice Holt forest recommended to me by Mark Tutton.
Despite the importance of the day I still couldn't resist putting the moth trap out the night before which meant my planned early start at Abbots was delayed by nearly 1.5 hours. I was still able to make it for around 08:45.
The sun was shining and the weather was warming up nicely. In fact for me it was a bit too hot and certainly tiring (my knees ain’t what they used to be ) as I walked what seemed like miles up and down the rides scanning the ground and up into the trees. 1 hour in, two deer-fly bites to my hands already, and no sightings . I then met with Alan Thornbury of Hampshire butterflies who at that point had no sightings of his own. However as we began to talk shop, one came shooting past but made its way into the trees and was gone. After around 20 minutes or so (and feeling a bit more optimistic now), I continued with my searching making my way back towards the entrance car-park to start another 'lap'. On the way up I met another Emperor enthusiast who asked me how he could get to Straits. I gave him directions to drive there but he was interested in walking as he'd been there already in his car and there were no parking spaces . He also told me he thought he'd seen an Emperor near an observation tower that I'd come across on my way out. I wished him good luck and we went our separate ways. I then came across the tower but no Emperors just turbo-charged Ringlets; Meadow Browns; Small and Large Skippers; White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries. No distractions though, it was an all or nothing quest. Purple Emperor or bust.
At that point I was considering the option to go to straits instead when I looked back and there it was, a large butterfly circling around about half a metre above the ground. And then it went to ground . The excitement was incredible as I approached as I saw this insect probing on the gravel and amongst the short grass that sprouted in the middle of the track. It occasionally made little hops and went walkabout (like my first ever grounded Emperor I saw in Straits some 5 years previously) I stood off at around 1.5 metres using my spare camera + Tamron lens to get off my shots. It them came to a standstill closed up its wings so I thought this is my chance to get in close with the macro. Unfortunately for me the butterfly wasn't ready to have his portraits done and it made its way up into some nearby trees. A basic rule with Emperors is you have to give them time to fully settle .
I was confident the butterfly would be back and moved away from the immediate area. Sure enough after 15 minutes or so, there it was, in pretty much the same area as it had been before. This time its wings were closed (perhaps settled?) so I chanced getting in close with the macro. A breeze had caught the insect and blown it over on to its side but undeterred it kept feeding . Unfortunately my closeness with the camera inevitably spooked it again. However I kept perfectly still and it was back down within seconds giving me open-wing double purple that I was unable to get an image of unfortunately. The insect morphs from black and white to dullish deep purple to blue-purple iridescent flashes and all dependent on the angle of the wings to the light .... it's magical to watch and a challenge to photo .

So there I was, in an area of a wood all to myself with Emperor about to settle down ….bliss ....and then? Then my canine nemesis turned up (four unleashed). I tried to signal to keep the dogs back so she asked me what I was doing. I told her I had a Purple Emperor to which she replied "Wotsa purple empra then". At that point the two of the dogs bounded up, the butterfly took to the wing, circled the dog owner before disappearing over the horizon ..."that's a Purple Emperor" I said . "Oh never mind it will come back" she said casually .... it never did and I never got my macro shots . Disappointed at what might have been I decided to check out Straits. After having done so I wished I'd listened to Mark's advice and given it a miss. Only one "might have been" sighting noted by the enthusiasts I met . And also for me there was the sadness of seeing this once lovely wood that held some great memories for me (first ever PE; PE males sallow searching; females laying; my first and only UK long-tailed Blue; Grounded male open-wing Purple Hairstreak; aberrant Silver-washed Frits etc etc) having had its rides mown back and large areas reduced to looking like a trashed abandoned sawmill. Up the road at Wrecclesham .... even more depressing, two sites where there were guaranteed Emperors and Glanvilles gone in a half a decade. Two sites that won't be on the calendar in the coming years (time to move on).

But on the plus side my first ever open wing stills (first sighting taken on camcorder) and a new site to go to. Phil

Glad it paid off for you Phil - you anticipated the weather well
Nice fresh specimen too
Kind Regards
Mark

bugboy wrote:Well nearly 3 hours looking slightly dodgy loitering in a car park in Bookham Common and not a sniff of the Big Purple One, a little Purple One toyed with us though, flitting around in the Oaks. On the plus side the Chalkhills have started to emerge at Denbies

Did you visit the master trees at Bookham, they are usually seen there when they are not around the carparks or on the paths.

Thursday and Friday last week were spent at Fermyn Woods, Northamptonshire with some seriously good butterflyer's; Phil Bromley, Iain Leach, Mark Johnson and Nick Ballard among them The wonderful Purple Emperor were out in good numbers on both days and we took advantage of some reasonable photo opportunities and also the chance to discuss and exchange a multitude of PE information.
Most of the expected woodland mid-summer species seen including:- White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, White-letter Hairstreak and the canopy loving Purple Hairstreak.

Further details and more pics can be found on my Personal Diary

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Lovely Emperor Bill, great colour

Purple on both wings, nice one bill!

Thanks Katrina & Buggy, their spectacular butterflies, especially when those males are flashing

BW's

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Brampton Wood, Saturday morning - lots of Butterflies including my first White Admirals of the season. Undoubted highlight however was this unusual Comma - possibly ab. suffusa?



Nick M

Absolute cracker Nick good spot
Kind regards
Mark

Indeed. Superb specimen.

Another late evening trip to Darland Banks on 11/7/15, target species was once again Chalk-Hill Blues.

This time though, i didnt wear shorts! and i applied several layers of insect repellant/deet
Having been bitten 3 times on my lower right leg/ankle by Horseflies last week, i wasnt going to make the same mistake twice!!
If anyone has been bitten by these nasty little swines, they will know all about the swelling/heat/itching...and even bruising that occurs over a week or so.

Even though a week had passed, i still found very low numbers of CHB's

Some photos of the evening, cheers Paul.
All photos shot between approx 7.00 and 8.00pm.

Location - Darland Banks, Gillingham, Kent.

Went to Bedford Purlieus on Friday...
plenty of the above, but did not see any WLH. one was reported by another visitor.

most plentiful butterfly = ringlet

Saw my first summer brood Holly Blue this afternoon, fluttering around the evergreens beside my works' car park.

I saw a fresh female Brimstone today at Mill Green Common, Essex. 10 minutes later I thought that I was witnessing something unique but then realised it was a different, tattier female from last year, still ovipositing on Alder Buckthorn. I think this beats my previous latest of 26th June in 2012. As they hibernate before breeding, it really doesn't matter when they emerge as adults.

On Wednesday I headed up to Whixall Moss, Shropshire to fulfill a long held promise of spending some time primarily with White-faced Darter in the Welsh half of this wonderful NNR and also to see the Large Heath ssp davus - on both counts my day-long visit proved highly successful.
While on Thursday I ventured down to Kenfig NNR, Near Porthcawl, Glamorgan to simply spend some time with our mid-summer insects. Gatekeeper were out in small numbers, all looking very pristine, as were the Small Blue which suggests a possible second brood.
Bonus and rather unexpected visitor to the reserve was a Great White Egret which I managed to capture a few long distant pics of; this large member of the heron family was very wary, but I suppose you have to be if your as white as snow but, I don't think I can remember hearing such a 'wimpish' call from such a large bird
On my way back to the car I stumbled into an Emperor Moth larva crawling straight along the middle of the metalled footpath and decided it was at risk of being trampled by some unaware visitor and I moved it into the herbage...hope it didn't mind it could have been heading for the 'ugly bug ball' in it's very colourful outfit for all we know a truly stunning caterpillar
Further details will appear in my Personal Diary as soon as time permits (as is usual where does the time go )

Bill

"When in doubt - venture out"

Saw a male Brimstone today, previous generation, which could make it a year old and flying with it's own offspring could be a possibility. The latest i have seen one.

Nick.

Hi All,
Last day of our holiday today,so decided to fill it up with a few flying visits! In the morning at 8ish I visited a local White Letter site,as we know not the easiest butterfly to observe but I was lucky ,with several good flight views,but couldn't find any settled,i do struggle to find them low down!later we had a great time amongst the local Silver Washed frits' in our local woods (ie .Hamstreet woods) we had our best ever count,which was 16(from a few days ago,but has now risen to 25 fantastic views ,including 2 egg laying females,my wife sat on one of the woodland benches,and one female even layed an egg on the bench leg! and amusingly then flew up her dress!! Sadly the White ads seem to be struggling here this year we only saw one in an hour and a half visit,they started well but seem to be disappearing rapidly,on to Brookland for lunch,at the Woolpack and a quick look in the nearby reserve,not to much about ,but 6 Painted Ladies wasn't a bad count,+a couple of Small Tort ; larval nests comprising a couple of hundred larvae,finally on to Dungeness,where the Coppers always delight,saw about 20-30 including one which I believe is Ab; Fuscae ,all in all a very enjoyable day! Regards Allan .W.

Stunning picture of an albino Comma here http://www.ispotnature.org/node/700799?nav=latest

Wow, man!!! Something else...

Tony M.