Neil Hulme

[David M]

Fabulous Large Blue images, Neil. Where do you find the time to decamp to a location fairly distant from you at this critical stage of the season?

[ernie f]

Neil - amazing pictures of Large Blues, especially the mating pair. I use to live in the village of Chalford which is just a stones-throw from Daneway but that was 20 years ago - before I got into butterflies and I think before they were re-introduced there. Now its a four hour round trip from where I live. How unlucky can I be?

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, both.
Daneway Banks is even further for me ... but Large Blues - they're worth it!
BWs, Neil

[David M]

I suppose Large Blues emerge in a convenient window for you, Neil, in between the SPBFs/Dukes and the Purple Emperors.

Before you know it you'll be pursuing Brown Hairstreaks and looking for migrant Long Tailed Blues!!

[Neil Hulme]

Hi David
Too many butterflies, too little time! And that's when I've taken the summer off work, to do nothing else!
BWs, Neil

[Jack Harrison]

Neil: Too many butterflies, too little time! And that's when I've taken the summer off work, to do nothing else!

And you won't be watching Ing-Ger-Land on Sunday?

Disgraceful.

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Emperors Go Large

The last few days have seen an explosion of Purple Emperor activity on the Knepp Wildland, although the action is punctuated by long periods when the butterflies remain motionless in the canopy, and one could be forgiven for thinking that there are none present! Much depends upon the weather, and other factors which we don't always understand.

Matthew Oates and I have been monitoring the numbers closely, often over the large areas with restricted access, which we visit as members of the Wildland advisory and survey groups (please keep to the public rights of way and permissive footpaths). However, the emperors can easily be seen from these paths, especially from the bridleway which runs approximately south-north across the Southern Block; many male emperors are coming to ground here (and occasionally to my trousers).

Maximum day counts remained on a plateau on 20 June (61) and 21 June (56), but there was clearly a huge hatch during the generally quiet morning period today (22 June). We stopped at 5.30 pm, as Matthew was beginning to melt, by which time we'd counted 121,120 of which were males. This indicates that we are still in the early build phase, and that we are likely to see a significant further increase, once the females get going.

The bridleway (green lane) is also a great place to watch Purple Hairstreak, particularly after 6.30 pm. Yesterday I counted 100 in the oaks during a relatively short period. A handful of White Admirals and the occasional Silver-washed Fritillary are also being seen.

[Jack Harrison]

Neil: many male emperors are coming to ground here (and occasionally to my trousers)

Presumably the same still-unwashed trousers as last year? (And from 2016, 2015, 2014......)

Jack

[EricY]

Lovely shots from Daneway Neil, I thought I saw you climbing up the hill on Tuesday morning when I was there. I was coming down from a long wait in the windy conditions from the top bit. By time I looked again you had disappeared, wish I had introduced myself now. I might go to Fermyn as soon as they start flying. Eric

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Jack. No, these are 'new' old, unwashed trousers, but equally foul.
Shame I missed you, Eric. Please say 'hello' if our paths cross again. I might try to squeeze in a trip to Fermyn mid next week.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

More Knepp Magic

Yesterday (23 June) I gave Theresa Turner and Gary Norman a personal tour of the Knepp Wildland, to thank them for all their brilliant work on the BC Fritillaries for the Future project. I was keen to show them both Knepp and the Purple Emperor at their best.

Emperor sightings gradually became more regular and a nice male eventually succumbed to one of my shrimp baits. Then the fireworks started; we turned a corner to find a low-level swarm of butterflies, comprising two females and five males, forming tight twisting bundles and linear chases at head-height and sometimes lower. Occasionally they would land in the grass, as the females attempted to shake off the amorous males. The females also repeatedly chased the males at high speed; something I've never seen before. All seven of the emperors regularly perched in the hedgerow, at or just above head-height. This frantic game of kiss chase went on for the best part of an hour, before the butterflies finally dispersed. During this part of the day we saw 40 Purple Emperors, all viewed from the main tracks and paths.

I later rejoined others in a systematic search (although we covered different routes) of the Sallow scrublands, where activity was at times quite incredible, although I never matched the chase of eight reported by Darcia Gingell and her mother. The tallies at the end of the day read like a late 1970s West Indies cricket team scoresheet; Oates 177, Fosterjohn 158, Hulme 144 (Tutton batted to the end, but the scorer lost count). A Knepp double-century must surely be possible, as the Wildland project continues to demonstrate that 'rare' wildlife need not be rare.

Most visitors had left before 6.00 pm, but I stayed on to enjoy the swarms of Purple Hairstreak which become active in the oak canopy on sunny evenings, the purring of nearby Turtle Doves, and the commotion caused by a family of Tamworth Pigs digging up mussels from the bottom of a small pond.

[Jack Harrison]

I have made a decision. Next year instead of my annual trip down south in early May, it is going to be late June.

And probably stay at the unexciting but convenient (and reasonably priced) Billingshurst Travelodge again.

See you Neil next June.

PS. Are Zimmer frames with seat on the market? I might need one by then

Jack

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Jack
I'll try to get you one of these (image by Theresa Turner).
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

300 Emperors At Knepp

Between 9.15 am and 7.07 pm on 24 June I counted precisely 300 Purple Emperors (only six of which were female) on the Knepp Wildland, spending a fabulous day in the company of Matthew Oates and Paul Fosterjohn. Many thanks to Matthew for helping tease out the remaining two (which took the final hour), when he would probably have rather had his feet in a bath of warm salty water; it had to be done.

Why were we so determined to make 300, when 298 is enough for anyone? The achievement of such a ridiculously large total demonstrates very clearly that a species which many would consider as rare, can in fact be rather common, if only we were to treat at least larger areas of our countryside in a more sympathetic manner.

The Purple Emperor is, in reality, widespread in West Sussex, but its numbers are so heavily suppressed by tidiness that we perceive it as a habitat specialist of mature, healthy woodlands. Knepp is teaching us a great deal, not least that this is a species which thrives in sallow scrub and flies freely along unflailed hedgerows. Our skewed perception is based on a landscape which has become so degraded that we now set the bar very low.

The Purple Emperor is just one of many high profile species which tell a similar tale, but these represent just the tip of the iceberg. It is already easy to forget that this was traditionally farmed land fewer than 20 years ago. Mother Nature can heal very quickly when allowed; we need more Knepps, as soon as possible.

[ernie f]

Neil

I'd like to thank you for pointing up the Daneway Banks Large Blues to me (and then Janet for convincing me I should make the effort to go). In four hours there I got some great shots and met some great people yesterday.

Also - crumbs. 300 Purple Emperors. Of course I am pleased you met your target count but I am even more pleased for the Purple Emperors which seem to really thrive there.

My count at Alice Holt stands at 4 so far. 296 to go....

[Jack Harrison]

Purple Emperor is known to occur over a huge area of Southern England (including now, East Angiia). In a few places, it has been introduced (eg Suffolk) but in general, the distribution seems to be natural. Is the apparent extension in the past 50 years a real phenomenon or simply a manifestation of greater interest in butterflies? PE for such a large insect is amazingly elusive but maybe we (and cameras) hove got our "eye in".

So Neil. Can you make an estimate of the total population of Purple Emperors in Britain? (stick to adults - there clearly would be more eggs). The total number might be quite staggering for what was once considered to be a rare butterfly. If that's a too difficult question, do you reckon that the PE population outnumbers that of White Admiral?

Jack

[bugboy]

300 Emperors At Knepp

Why were we so determined to make 300, when 298 is enough for anyone? The achievement of such a ridiculously large total demonstrates very clearly that a species which many would consider as rare, can in fact be rather common, if only we were to treat at least larger areas of our countryside in a more sympathetic manner.

The Purple Emperor is, in reality, widespread in West Sussex, but its numbers are so heavily suppressed by tidiness that we perceive it as a habitat specialist of mature, healthy woodlands. Knepp is teaching us a great deal, not least that this is a species which thrives in sallow scrub and flies freely along unflailed hedgerows. Our skewed perception is based on a landscape which has become so degraded that we now set the bar very low.

This general statement sadly applies to so many species. Not just butterflies and not just in the UK

I just hope the example set at Knepp Ivan be taken on board by other landowners and become the norm before it really is too late.

[William]

Just catching up Neil, monumental stuff as always - I was (briefly) at Daneway on the 18th too, sorry to have missed you!

Cheers,

Will

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, all. I'll try to answer questions once the emperor season is over; for the moment, every spare minute must be spent in the woods.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

More Knepp Doings

Following the previous day's exhausting count of Purple Emperors over a large area of the Knepp Wildland, today (25 June) was all about the more relaxed enjoyment of the current glut of this magnificent butterfly. I spent a few happy hours with my father, during which we enjoyed plenty of action, including a fresh male emperor on one of my shrimp lures. At one point this butterfly flew in through the open door of my car and fluttered around the dashboard.

After a short break, I returned to Knepp, but then didn't escape again until after 8pm, when the emperors were still flying. I watched empresses gliding around the canopy with up to four and once five males in pursuit, and observed one pairing (which lasted 3 hours 17 minutes) at the top of an oak. Many emperors were seen visiting sap bleeds; one at head-height. A grounded male (on an organic cowpat; these days, most are plastic) demonstrated an unusual marbled pattern, which I've seen before and suspect is caused by still-soft wings. This theory was supported when it raised its abdomen and ejected a stream of meconium while feeding.

On a couple of occasions I watched classic rejection drops, when an already-mated female tumbles down to avoid unwanted male attention. A male/female chase at 7.30pm initially appeared to be similar, until the female finally shook off her suitor and landed in low scrub; it turned out that she had only just emerged and was not quite ready to copulate, as her wings appeared to still be damp, and she too squirted meconium.

It was great to spend some time with Purple Emperor aficionado Dennis Dell (visiting from Sheffield) and wildlife photographer David Woodfall, among many others.