Purple Emperors are out...

[Lee Hurrell]

The first sightings link on the main BC website list Surrey on 26th June but the Surrey website sightings page doesn't appear to have been updated since 1st June.

Cheers

Lee

[Piers]

Hi Lee,

See.... http://apaturairis.blogspot.com/

Felix.

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks Felix,

The Purple Empire will, of course, be first port of call going forward.

Cheers

Lee

[Susie]

Had one today at Southwater.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Susie,
Glad you got your man. I reckon it will be a good PE season, as we've had favourable weather through the post-winter larval development stage, and during the pupation period when they're particularly vulnerable. This follows a big egg-lay last year. I got off the mark on Monday - some pics at viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4065&start=80
Neil

[Charles Nicol]

had a look round at Fermyn CP yesterday but no Emperors yet.

Charles

[fourwings]

Was at Fermyn from 09:30 until 15:30 today, saw a total of 7 Purple Emperors, three in Fermyn itself and 4 in Lady Wood, three of which were on the floor taking minerals from horse dung.

[Padfield]

Just for the record, they're on the wing in the southern, mountain belt of the Purple Empire too. I had my first today, sitting high up a tree in the heat of the afternoon:



Both the pupae I'm watching are still green, though.

Guy

[FISHiEE]

Can anyone recommend a site for Purple Emperors for this weekend? I am now sort of based in Hampshire and have most of the weekend free. I'm in Havant so somewhere near to that area would be good.

I went to Alice Holt Forest a couple of years back but it's a huge place and didn't see any but maybe I wasn't looking up enough, looking in the right areas etc.?

Not seen one before and am hoping to find one now I'm in the area

Also hoping to go look for Dark Green Frits but know a site near Winchester that I visited a few times last year and saw a couple of battered ones right at the end of the season as well as plenty of marbled whites, Silver Washed Frits etc. Not sure of the name of that site but it's just south west of Sparsholt... maybe thewre's Purple Emperors there?

Also will be looking for a site for Brown Hairstreaks later in the year as they're another species I've not seen coming from Kent where they don't have any...

Any help on locations would be much appreciated

John

[Pete Eeles]

Can anyone recommend a site for Purple Emperors for this weekend? I am now sort of based in Hampshire and have most of the weekend free. I'm in Havant so somewhere near to that area would be good.

The only reliable sites I'm aware of are Alice Holt Forest (Straits Inclosure, Goose Green) and Bentley Wood. Unfortunately, Bentley Wood is very well known and the place will be heaving. The upside is that you have lots of eyes looking out, so will probably get to see a few individuals at least. But don't expect a "personal encounter" As for Straits, the sallows on which the Purple Emperor bred were dessimated earlier this year, no doubt killing countless larvae, so numbers there are down no doubt.

Also hoping to go look for Dark Green Frits but know a site near Winchester that I visited a few times last year and saw a couple of battered ones right at the end of the season as well as plenty of marbled whites, Silver Washed Frits etc. Not sure of the name of that site but it's just south west of Sparsholt... maybe thewre's Purple Emperors there?

That'll be Farley Mount Country Park. The western end is normally the best. No emperors though.

Also will be looking for a site for Brown Hairstreaks later in the year as they're another species I've not seen coming from Kent where they don't have any...

The Shipton Bellinger area is reliable. The status of Noar Hill is unclear - there's been some concern about the habitat management there for Brown Hairstreak.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Michaeljf]

Hopefully I won't repeat too much of the previous post, they got their response in first!!!
If you're in Hampshire you should try Bentley Wood - see the site at SU259292 - it's also very good for Silver-washed fritillaries and white admirals.

We went a fortnight back and were to early, so now you should be in peak time for the PE. Though the weather tomorrow (Saturday) may not be good (warm enough) for the best views of the emporers. They're normally out from 9:30-10 am around the car-park but also anywhere along the dirt track rides. There's normally other spotters so find a bunch of them looking up at the trees and you're normally in the right spot! I would suggest going to Bentley via the B3084 and via warren farm/hedgemoor copse. There's a small car track about 800-1000 Yards to get to the car park.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=42 ... 59292&st=5

There was a discussion string earlier on the year here about how bad Alice Holt had become for PE's due to poor forest management, so probably best to avoid that.

[FISHiEE]

THanks for the replies

I will probably check out Alice Holt and Bently over the weekend and also I have thursday and Friday free hopefully so might be quieter then for a bit more of a personal experience

I read a few had been seen at the straights inclosure so might be ok.

Regards

John

[FISHiEE]

Ended up with not much time on saturday due to having a property viewing at 11:00 and so rather than make the long trip up to bentley and alice holt for just a very short amount of prime time viewing I made an extremely short 2 mile trip to Hollybank Woods north of Emsworth and had a very enjoyable couple of hours. 30+ silver washed frits and hundreds of ringlets. 5 silver washed was a good score for me in the past and probably 30 for ringlets so hampshire has certainly trumped kent for those! Also a few white admirals, marbled whites (I was surprised to see those there), large skippers etc.

Sunday I decided to avoid the crowds and head to Farley Mount (You were right Pete!) and was treated to 50-60 Dark Green Fritillaries much further west than I had explored before including a freshly emerged female that once mated with a rather tatty male (which spoilt the photos really) sat around for a good half hour before realising what her wings were for. A most enjoyable morning

Not looking good for Purple Emperors tomorrow, but maybe Friday is looking hopeful. They might be a bit past their best by now though if I do find any.

Definitely come August I will make a few trips to Shipton Bellinger I think as Brown Hairstreaks I really want to see and I'll have several week and weekend days free for that site