Knepp still not yet Purple I spent about 5 hours at Knepp today, searching Green Lane and other parts of the southern block. At first there was some cloud cover and a cool, gusty wind, but in the afternoon things warmed up with plenty of sunshine and the wind calmed down a little. No Purple Emperor...

Knegative at Knepp today I went Emperor hunting at Knepp this afternoon, more in a spirit of hope than expectation. Conditions were marginal. Only about 18C with a lot of cloud cover and a fresh, gusty wind. Very little was flying apart from a few Meadow Brown and Small Heath, all of which were hun...

Two Small Pearls at Abbots Wood Having seen some Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Park Corner Heath last week and reading about how well they are doing there, I have been keen to see if there are any at Abbots Wood, near Hailsham, where they were introduced two years ago. Yesterday afternoon I ...

It was nice to bump into you at Park Corner Heath yesterday afternoon and thanks for showing me where most of the SPBF were flying. I eventually got some nice shots when the sun went in later in the afternoon. DSC_0492a.jpg DSC_0484a.jpg It is certainly a delight to see PBF and SPBF flying together,...

It's nearly mid October, and so far this year I haven't seen a single Clouded Yellow. On this lovely warm day, I went to Hope Gap near Seaford to try to put this right, and was almost immediately rewarded by the sight of one flying purposefully northward in the warm breeze coming in from the sea. Al...

Due to holidays abroad and other family commitments, my butterflying has been non-existent for the last 6 weeks. Today, I decided to pay another visit to Friston Gallops before the season is over. Conditions were fairly sunny and warm, but there was a moderate south-westerly wind blowing in which ca...

What a month I've had! With all the excitement about the Black Hairstreaks at Ditchling Common and the population explosion of Purple Emperors at Knepp, I think we can declare the so-called June Gap dead, deceased, pushing up the daisies... (insert random Monty Python reference). So now we have star...

Thanks, Pauline. It seems that all my Christmasses and birthdays have come at once at the moment. I am trying to get in as much butterflying as possible at the moment until my grandchildren arrive next week, after which I will be otherwise occupied for much of the time! I just need to get a nice sho...

I visited Knowlands Wood near Barcombe, East Sussex again this morning. Since my visit last week, there has clearly been a large emergence of Silver-washed Fritillaries. In today's heat, they were flying fast and loose all along the woodland rides, and only very occasionally stopping for nectar on a...

I visited Knepp this morning for the third time this season, this time with my wife providing a second pair of eyes that are sharper than mine. We wandered about for over 2 hours, seeing a total of about 40 Emperors up at tree-top level, and one that buzzed us at head height. Eventually, my wife tra...

I made a last-minute decision to forsake the Purple Emperor for a couple of days and headed down to Devon. To make it worthwhile, we booked a room in the excellent Hunters Inn, right in the heart of the Heddon Valley. After arriving on Thursday, we walked up the steep lane in Trentishoe Coombe. It w...

Due to other pressures on my time, I wasn't able to get to Knepp yesterday. However, I managed to escape for an hour in the afternoon and went to Knowlands Wood in Barcombe, which is just down the road from me. There were several White Admirals, including this nice fresh one which posed beautifully ...

I spent about 6 hours at Knepp today. Conditions were cool and cloudy at first, but improved rapidly... apart from the wind, which was still gusting badly at times. My first few hours were fruitless, Emperor-wise, but I did get a little over-excited about some White Admirals, of which I saw about 6....

Wonderful Swallowtails, Neil. I've never seen the British sub-species and I must organise a trip next year. This year's already too full

Hi Wurzel. Yes, that's right. It seems they favour the recently cleared areas, hence the name the "woodman's friend". The other clue, especially in this Kent site is, follow the Cow Wheat. There are extensive swards of it in the area that the Heath's are flying this year.

Following a single report of a Purple Emperor at Knepp yesterday evening, I spent a couple of hours wandering around there today. Conditions weren't good, being rather cool and cloudy, and worst of all, windy. I am definitely crazy or a wild optimist (probably both). No Emperors were seen, but durin...

I see what you mean, David. It does have a darker background. Perhaps it's for the best that we have only two Melitaea species in the UK!

After all the excitement about the Sussex Black Hairstreaks and the Purple Period hopefully imminent, I decided today to head east on my annual Canterbury pilgrimage. On parking the car at East Blean Woods, I immediately saw a Heath Fritillary even as I still had my hands on the steering wheel. Thre...

Thanks, Wurzel. I doubt I'll get back during this year's flight period, but I've made a note for the future. Thanks also Trevor. It was very nice to meet you and I will be going back to Ditchling Common, but probably not this weekend when the world and his wife will be there! I might call in there o...

Great Black Hairstreak shots. I was at Ditchling today and my hands were shaking a lot. Maybe I should invest in a monopod!