Trevor

[Wurzel]

Cracking shot of the Four-spot Trevor Also great selection of Silver-studs The first female shot seems to have a line of 'male' blue through the hind wing - could this be ever so slightly gynandromorph?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Lovely to see those Silver Studded Blues, Trevor. I doubt I'll see them in the UK this year.

[trevor]

Thanks Wurzel & David. My previous visit to Iping for Silver Studs
was in 2020, so an overdue session this year.

This morning I was brave enough to risk a visit to Chiddingfold Forest.
I arrived under building cloud despite clear blue sky all the way there.
Needless to say I was not granted an audience, I think the b****r is still in bed!
A conversation with a local dog walker, who I have got to know over the years,
revealed that his first White Admiral was only seen yesterday ( I had nine sightings today },
and no Silver Washed Frits had been seen yet, and none seen today.

However I had an enjoyable morning with fresh Ringlets, open wing Meadow Browns,
a first summer brood Comma and a White Admiral which landed very briefly in front of me.

Patience dear boy!!

[Wurzel]

That is a mighty fine H.Comma Trevor What a cracker! I see that His Nibbs is out at Knepp

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

A now very famous Purple Emperor ab ( lugenda )

After Sunday's visit to Chiddingfold Forest it was clear that the Purple Emperor
needed a little more time to emerge. So I cancelled Monday's visit and hoped
the two hot day's of Monday and Tuesday would coax H.I.M from his pupae.
On Tuesday evening I saw a post from Chiddingfiold showing a PE ab nestled
in a tree.
I duly arrived early at the triange on Wednesday morning and all was quiet
except for a fresh, and approachable White Admiral down on the ground.
A little later I met the regular local dog walker on the Botany Bay ride and
we chatted and walked back to the triangle, only to be greeted by a very
large Purple Emperor swooping around the area and landing among some
weeds in the centre of the triangle, it was clearly an ab. This was a shock
for both of us, not only because it was an ab, but also the time 08.40 well
before normal start time. I noted on the camera that the first shot was taken at 08.43.
After many shots our ab took off at high speed, but over the next two
hours he returned to the ground a further four times to the delight of visitors
arriving later including a very excited John Wiltshire. He and others posted
shots of the ab on facebook. This ensured that quite a few people would turn
up today, including Toby all the way from Conningsby, Lincolnshire.

Unfortunately the ab did not return today.

[millerd]

What a splendid butterfly, Trevor - like something out of a tropical butterfly house! A shame he didn't provide an encore today, but with five groundings he was probably a little dyspeptic with all that he'd been slurping up from the track.

Nevertheless it was a good morning today, and good to see you and the others as well - and chew the fat over a (different) grounded Emperor,

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Cheers Dave. A great day, with a variety of weather, which possibly aided things.
Good to see you and Paul again. As the song goes ' We'el meet again '.

Yesterday was a much more traditional day with the Emperor at Chiddingfold,
With plenty of groundings and eventually a pleasant, small, group of people.
The Emperor gave us variety with some magnificent fly pasts, with wings clicking
as he passed close by, and also chose a good selection of landing spots, on the ground,
in trees, on invisible bait, and as they do, something really nasty.
Importantly we had some lovely flashes of purple/blue as well.

The ab. did not re-appear again yesterday, sorry Toby from Lincolnshire!

[Neil Freeman]

A superb Purple Emperor ab. there Trevor . I saw it posted on a couple of Facebook groups the other day and guessed it would attract a lot of visitors.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Benjamin]

Great PE updates Trevor - so glad you caught up with your target!

[Goldie M]

Fantastic Purple Emperor Trevor, belting colour photos Goldie

[badgerbob]

A cracking butterfly Trevor. They don't come much more special than that one.

[trevor]

Thanks Neil, Ben, Goldie & Bob. A very special butterfly and day as a whole.

Friday was not as productive as Thursday owing to a long period of cloud,
but during the cloudy spell Dave Miller and myself witnessed a high speed,
tree top chase of a male chasing a female. Even though they were at a great height
it was amazing to note how much larger the female was compared to the male.
I would have loved to seen her close up.
During the sunny breaks grounding continued, indeed the first grounding of the day
saw two males down at the same time, just a few yards apart.
I think all visitors on Friday went home happy, including the two from Poole, Dorset.

[millerd]

Much better shots than mine, Trevor! Still, I had another bite of the purple cherry today in somewhat different weather...

That chase was a sight to see, and I was surprised at how active the Emperors were around the treetops even when it was cloudy and relatively cool.

Another very sociable morning too.

Cheers,

Dave

[trevor]

Cheers Dave. Good to see you again. Shame we didn't have one of those cameras
that could have frozen that chase we saw. Yes, a good social occasion too.

IT'S PURPLE WEEK!

After many audiences with His Majesty recently, it was the turn of the Purple Hairstreak
this morning in Abbots Wood. A single fresh male at 10.01. So a few early starts for me now.

[trevor]

A visit to Abbots Wood this morning produced my first two Gatekeepers of the year,
a male and female. I only managed a closed wing shot with the female.
A pristine White Admiral would not stay still on the bramble blossom, but my camera
did manage a ' frozen ' image. On the same bramble patch was another H. Comma.
One large Oak was host to a few high up Purple Hairstreaks, but none came within range.

[Wurzel]

It was a good job OfSTED kept me busy for the last couple of weeks Trevor, it's given me time to replenish my stocks of :mrgreen:I'm sure you know what this is for so here we go
And here's a spare one for the other smaller Purp

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

I feel your pain, Wurzel. The classroom is the last place to be when the Emperor is out.
I will wear your mrgeens with pride. Shipton B isn't too far away now.