Nottinghamshire Purple Emperor

[jasonbirder]

Anyone have any thoughts on the provenance of the Nottinghamshire Purple Emperor recorded at Cotgrave recently
(Photo's here http://www.eastmidlands-butterflies.org ... rings.html )
Presumably not of natural origin - given distance from current/historic colonies...but wondered if anyone knew anything...
Haven't bothered to visit myself...but a friend has!

[Mark Senior]

I like the photo of the Large Skipper aberration on the website .

[Matsukaze]

I understand that the Emperor is starting to appear in Leicestershire so natural colonisation is not totally beyond the bounds of possibility. It is spreading north in parts of its range at quite some rate.

[Essex Bertie]

It is being seen a lot more regularly in Essex, Cambridgeshire and now Suffolk. Partly because there are people actually looking for it, but also because there is a natural increase and casual observers are encountering it on occasion. Based upon its elusive nature and its current expansion, it's actual range will be beyond known sites, so South Nottinghamshire seems feasible.

[celery]

I was the person who made this year's initial recording of Purple Emperor at Cotgrave Forest in Notts on 12th July.

I hadn't gone there expecting, or even hoping, to see Purple Emperor - I was hoping for White-letter and Purple Hairstreaks, or Dark Green and Silver-washed Frits (all of which are apparently present in small quantities, but none of which I've ever seen there).

I reported my sighting to BC's county recorder for Notts. and there are a couple of my pics in his report which is linked to in the first post in this thread. I didn't report my sighting more widely as I was unsure as to whether my local BC branch wanted to keep knowledge the site restricted. It appears that by publishing the information on their website they are happy to put it in the public domain.

I understand that since my report there have been lots of other sightings of several individuals at the same place. It appears that people are now looking where they had never looked before.

I can't add anything definitive regarding provenance but I can tell you what I was told but one of the site's gamekeepers who also witnessed the grounded male with me. He happened to be walking his dog along the footpath at the time that me and my missus where taking a few snapshots.

"What have you got... one of those white-thingy butterflies?" says he.
"No, it's much better than that - it's a Purple Emperor - they aren't usually seen anywhere round here." says I.
"Oh, is that what they call them. I see them quite often. I didn't know they were rare."
"What?!?! You mean you've seen them before?"
"Oh, yes - regularly for the past four or five years. Do you want me to show you where the orchids are too?... Look I've got some pictures on my phone I took last year..." etc. etc.

Purple Emperor - Cotgrave Forest, Notts. - 12th July, 2015

Purple Emperor - Cotgrave Forest, Notts. - 12th July, 2015

cheers, celery