millerd

[Wurzel]

Having only seen the one Emperor this season and then managed the bare imaginings of purple on the wings have a many Mind you I did better than I'd hoped as I'd almost given up with His Nibbs, perhaps next year if I give up entirely I'll be treated to an Emperor Fest?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

That all sounds a bit rough on you Wurzel - what I'll be putting in the next too posts isn't going to help, either.

I continued my gentle wanderings through the woods, and about twenty minutes later I was approaching the Triangle from the direction of the highpoint, very close to the spot where Katrina and I had seen an Emperor last year. When I'd passed it in the other direction, I'd noted a dampish patch with the remains of some kind of animal dropping and so was actually looking down this time when I approached. There, right on cue, was another Emperor.

As I cautiously crept towards it, gauging how engrossed it was, I was brought up short - there was another Emperor on the ground in front of it! There were two of them, not that close together, but just close enough to squeeze into one frame.

The question was now - on which one should I concentrate? Both were in dappled sunlight/shade (something the species seems to favour when grounding) with the nearer one perhaps the more shaded - which is why I'd nearly missed it. In the end, the decision was made for me. A jogger (the first person I'd seen today) trundled through, oblivious to the presence of the butterflies and disturbed just one of them: the further one. Oh well, that made things simpler.

I was still finding it difficult to beleve that I had another Purple Emperor to myself. No tutting about getting too close with my puny camera, no warnings about disturbing the butterfly - I could relax and try a few things. I rubbed a finger in a random damp patch and offered it as an alternative treat. The butterfly nonchalantly walked slowly on, its proboscis clearly finding whatever I'd put on my finger completely to its liking.

With the butterfly firmly attached, I thought I'd try moving into the sunshine. This worked a treat - the Emperor opened up beautifully, showing a lot of purple if I got the angle right (though it of course had its own preferred angle to the sun and kept trying to return to it!). With a distant background and bright lighting, my camera did better at getting the insect in focus than it manages with shady grounded shots, though I can't decide between these three.

I also tried a couple of unusual angles.

I love the way you can still see the purple as a thin line in the second shot.

I notice after the event that this particular butterfly was far from perfect, with two tears to the right hand hindwing, but nevertheless, this was a pretty amazing encounter. Believe it or not, there was more to come, but that will need a part three...

Dave

[Wurzel]

"what I'll be putting in the next too posts isn't going to help, either. " you're right Dave, it didn't At this rate I'll run out of these

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

At this rate I'll run out of these

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Careful, I had a pretty good run of days with them too

[David M]

That was quite some experience with the Emperors, Dave.

Getting two in the frame is a difficult thing to do, probably much harder than getting one on your finger!

Having them to yourself is a rare privilege. Your early start paid dividends.

[Pauline]

You're a very brave individual Dave! To rub your finger in 'a random damp patch' in PE season takes real guts - or desperation! Some great shots tho' Reminds me of a similar experience last year when I was fortunate enough to photograph 2 together with no 'competition'.

[Benjamin]

Sounds like heaven Dave! I’ve been on and off at Chiddingfold for the last few years (covering a wide area on my bike) but for me it’s probably been more miss than hit. I didn’t manage it this year for various reasons but clearly I should have tried harder! You (along with a few others) on the other hand, always make the effort and you thoroughly deserve your success! Looking forward to part 3!

[bugboy]

Very peculiar to have all that Purple to yourself, particularly since it was a weekend and the day before I bumped into a a few people on a similar quest who knew they were out there after I'd informed them of my success. Perhaps their sudden and early arrival had caught people by surprise, up until this point we were all talking about it being a late season in general. Still it's good to see you made good use of all that surplus Purple!

[millerd]

I hope you've saved something for this next post, Wurzel...

It was very odd to have so much uninterrupted and exclusive time with a selection of Emperors, Paul - unreal even.

It is a rewarding time of year to make an early start, David - the sun gets going earlier than most of us do at the end of June. And the Emperors started earlier than they often do as well.

After the finger treatment (repeated in a moment), you can feel reassured Pauline that the digit involved was given a thorough wash, and I even found some handgel in my backpack left over from Covid precautions! (Judging by their eclectic taste in things, the Emperors might have fancied that more than the damp ground! )

Part Three coming up, Ben. As mentioned, it didn't seem real at the time, and going back through it still seems a bit like remembering a dream. However, here come some more photos...

When that last Purple Emperor finally relinquished my grubby finger and sailed off somewhere high to no doubt clean its proboscis, it was around 1030, traditionally when the species starts to come down to the ground. However, I had already seen five this morning... Another half an hour passed, and I was carefully making my way back to the car when sure enough, there was another Emperor on the track ahead. This one was not very settled, and was wandering across the gravel agitatedly looking for something better suited to its needs. It had become cloudier, and this bit of path is more overshadowed by oaks than it used to be - photos from a bit of a distance of a poorly-lit and moving butterfly are not the best...

Within a couple of minutes, the butterfly had retired to a tree, nearly beyond reach of the lens in any light.

Six Emperors! I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen so many anywhere in one day.

This last rather desultory encounter really made me feel I was pushing my luck for the day, and I resigned myself to heading for home. However, His Imperial Purpleness had other ideas. Another half an hour had passed, and almost within sight of the car along the last bit of the track, amazingly there was one more Emperor. Number seven turned out to be a bit of a show-off (probably because the more intermittent sunshine caused it to open up more readily) and didn't wander around quite so much or so quickly either - and neither did it choose anything unpleasant as the basis for its ingestion of nutrients. I took a lot of photos - this selection merely skims the surface, and may not even be the best.

Eventually, the light, the angle, and above all the butterfly, produced a brief moment of all-over purple.

nearly...

so close...

there we go!

The butterfly now appeared to get bored with whatever was on the ground, and after some more wandering...

...and a passing interest in a nearby Red Admiral...

...decided to try something different: me.

It was very dark down by the ground, so I resorted to a bit of flash.

The butterfly proved almost impossible to dislodge - I ended up walking along the path a bit to see what would happen, but it stayed put, taking a particular interest in one dark spot on my boot.

I never did work out exactly what that was...

In the end it was not exactly difficult to persuade the butterfly onto my finger as I had done with the earlier one.

This also allowed a close-up - though cropped, this is actually one of my favourite shots of the day.

That last audience lasted a good three-quarters of an hour, and I finally left Chiddingfold at around half past 12. I no doubt could have stayed, and might possibly have seen more, but it was getting much cloudier - and what else could I really have added to such a astonishing morning? I had still not seen a single other soul with even a passing interest in butterflies, and my car remained as I had left it - on its own. I had anticipated some competition on a Sunday at the start of the season with a favourable weather forecast...

Dave

[bugboy]

If I hadn't already made other plans that day that took me to the other side of the country I would definitely have joined you for another dose of his Purple Royalness!

[trevor]

Amazing experience for you Dave. Stunning shots too .
Your ' full purple ' images are some of the best I've seen.
To have them all to your self was an added bonus.

Trevor.

[Katrina]

Wonderful. I didn’t make it out looking for Emperors this year so

[millerd]

These things are not predictable, Paul - that day was the most convenient for me and everything just fell into place for once. It was certainly odd not to be sharing the experience with anyone at all.

Thank you, Trevor. Having the time and space and a selection of butterflies to play with made getting those shots so much easier! I went home with nearly 500 images to look at: Emperors from every angle!

Thank you too, Katrina - it was tricky picking a day to go down to Chiddingfold this year, and I struck lucky. An amazing morning.

Follow that, as the saying goes...

One advantage of my early start on 24th June was that negotiating the roadworks at J10 of the M25 was relatively easy and quick at that time of day. I knew that the return journey would be far far worse - it can be bad enough on a Sunday afternoon anyway. The more pleasant alternative was the scenic route from Guildford across to Bagshot and then up the A30. Naturally enough, scenic routes are at their best if they include a butterfly or two, and my version of this one goes right past Dawney's Hill near Pirbright.

It was still mostly cloudy (but warm), but there wasn't much flying - I spotted a couple of Silver-studded Blues, one male and one female.

The efforts are clearly continuing here to keep the gorse in check, but the heather continues to lose ground and how the Silver-studs maintain a foothold is a mystery. I searched the barer areas at length to no avail, but at the last gasp a brown butterfly bounced across in front of me. I tracked it as far as I could and took this shot, aimed at where I thought the butterfly might be.

Advancing a bit to get a closer look only served to put the butterfly up, but this time I kept it in view and spotted it land. A bit of a more careful and targeted approach paid dividends, and here was my first Grayling of 2023.

Not as exciting as the morning, but a nice little "extra" for the day.

Dave

[Pauline]

Wonderful shots of the PE Dave

[Benjamin]

The encounter that everyone dreams of - well done!

[Goldie M]

Some beautiful shots Dave I bet you were in Wonderland with those Emperors Goldie

[Wurzel]

Holy poop Dave I think I broke the emoji button from your previous post

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Thank you Pauline, Goldie, Ben and Wurzel. The day started well and just got better, and I suspect in the end became completely unrepeatable. What a terrific species the Purple Emperor is.

More sunshine on 25th June, and very different scenery up on the Chilterns at Aston Rowant. At this time of year, as the so-called June Gap fades away, chalk downland like this is home to herds of Marbled Whites. They are particularly striking when fresh, with the subtle differences between the sexes more obvious before they all fade alike to greyish wisps of tissue paper in just a few weeks' time.

Keeping them company were new Small Skippers...

...Small Whites...

...and Small Coppers.

There were no Blues, nor Brown Argus, nor Small Heath - this location feels very strange with the (temporary) absence of these three - but the traditional accompaniment to the Marbled Whites up here were around in small numbers - Dark Green Fritillaries. They weren't very cooperative (nothing new there), but I managed a couple of shots.

Dave

[millerd]

Tuesday 26th June - with the forecast promising more sunshine (especially towards the east) another trip out beckoned, and as the saying goes: the only way was Essex. Though I have had many annoyances on the M25 just on the short trips southwards to Bookham and Denbies, over the years I've never had a problem getting over to the Southend area for White-Letter Hairstreaks and Heath Fritillaries. A most welcome curiosity!

Parking near to Leigh-on-Sea station, I headed for the magic piece of footpath at the start of the walk to Hadleigh Castle where the WLH can reliably be found. They were here again today, though not in great numbers and clearly on the worn side of new. Accompanying them were Red Admirals, Holly Blues and Commas (the latter presumably lay on the elms here at this time of year).

The first brood Hollies use the brambles as a foodplant around here, and always seem behind those at home.

I did take a few shots of the Hairstreaks, but they are always tricky to photograph even when close to because of the position of the sun - I decided to try harder on the way back.

Out onto the path towards the Castle it was decidedly breezy, but it was evident that there were a lot of Skippers about. Though there were a few Small...

...and even a Large...

...the majority were (as one might expect) of the Essex persuasion.

One female in particular looked strikingly different, with very heavy markings...

...though this male was a bit more heavily marked than usual as well.

Also around in good numbers were fresh Marbled Whites...

...and lurking next to what looked like the remains of a nest of Peacock caterpillars (the frass was still quite fresh!) was a very new Small Tortoiseshell.

I realise I haven't posted any WLH photos yet - but the majority of my time was actually with all the other species. I did see other Hairstreaks along the way as the path has a fair bit of elm along it, with new trees constantly replacing those taken by DED in what looks like a stable cycle. However, my only shot of one of these butterflies was of this one, peering down at me from above.

That will have to be the teaser for part two of this post! Meanwhile, here is a view up to Hadleigh Castle, and the numbers of Skippers and Marbled Whites in the grass will just have to be imagined...

Dave

[trevor]

Further to your envy inducing Emperor report, I was in conversation with a
local gentleman who walks his dog through the forest on a daily basis.
He remarked that I was visiting earlier this year, so I told him of your experience
the day before, the 24th, his reply was that the first Emperor was seen there on the Friday 22nd.

So no wonder all your specimens were so fresh and unmarked, with perfect weather at the time
to aid their emergence.

Have another
Trevor.