Cheers Wurzel - I have taken shots of 2 PE together a couple of times now but this is the first time I have captured the PE with another species so I was pleased with that image. Re Essex - the reason you can't find any is because they have all congregated at one particular site in Hampshire!
Over the course of a few days I started to get closer to the PE - but only just. Sightings of them gliding around the canopies became gradually more frequent but the ones I saw flying close to the ground were very skittish, touching down only briefly and at a distance - this situation was not helped by a trio of bikers passing at speed and spooking one which was grounded. I have heard folk complain about dog walkers but most of the ones I meet are polite, considerate and patient, frequently putting the dog on a leash and waiting until the shot was taken, or giving me a wide berth. However, I have NEVER, ever, encountered a biker who has slowed down or dismounted and walked round me! More of that later.
I was not the only one who noticed a few extremely large White Admirals around doing quite a respectable impersonation of a PE:
Watching a Longhorn Beetle and a Red Admiral lay this egg resulted in me missing ANOTHER grounded PE by a few minutes:
My first Painted Lady of the season but ....... it clearly wasn't in the mood to pose for a photo and took off immediately:
So, the hunt for PE continued ......