Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Peter,

A clear pattern has emerged over the years and usually persists for about the first ten days of the flight season, after which all the males are out. On many occasions it has been when the vast majority of enthusiasts have headed home, after the morning descent has clearly finished, that I have achieved my best images (of perfect imagos). Between 4 pm and as late as 7.30 pm the males drop down again, this time with a noticeably high proportion of pristine examples.

The time required to fully dry off a wing may simply be a function of its surface area. I was fortunate enough to watch a newly emerged female gorganus Swallowtail earlier this year. She was clumsy and pretty hopeless in the air until after 2 pm.

Best Wishes, Neil

[Susie]

Fabulous photos, fascinating facts of observed behaviour and funny anecdotes. Your posts have it all, Neil.

[peterc]

Hi Neil,

Excellent! My patience begins to wear thin by around 2pm if I am out searching for PEs in the morning hence probably missing out on some fantastic opportunities late in the day .

Peter

PS I used to live in Hove and when I started 'collecting' butterflies. Before my mother passed away in 2000 we used to go to Houghton Forest regularly near Arundel and remember seeing many Dark Green and Silver-washed Fritillaries as well as White Admirals but never a PE.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Peter,
There is little doubt that Emperors can exist for decades in a wood without being spotted. When living at low density they can be remarkably elusive. Even when relatively common they can still do a good job of hiding, particularly for periods later in the flight season and under certain weather conditions (including very warm and sunny). I've even started to hear grumbles from people who can't find them on the Knepp Castle Estate (unassisted), and this is easily the second largest population in the UK!
BWs, Neil

[Neil Freeman]

A brilliant set of reports from Fermyn Neil, superb photos and interesting observations

Unfortunately, I will not have a chance to get there this year before the best is over ( been away for a week and then back to work) but your reports help to ease the longing a bit.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Hulme]

More Purple Doings

There has been plenty of Purple Emperor action over the last few days, particularly over the Knepp Castle Estate rewilding project area. On 3rd July I visited the site with father and son team Dan and Indi Danahar, and Colin Knight. The weather conditions were perversely too good during our visit, with clear blue skies, little breeze and a rapidly rising temperature. During the middle part of the flight season these conditions can bring out the lethargic side of Emperor behaviour. However, I suspect they may have been much more active before our arrival at 11 am. By the time we went our separate ways we had reached an impressive tally of 34, but that gives a rather false impression as it was very difficult to spot them. Most activity amounted to the briefest flights of restless males, or butterflies which had been irritated by a nearby Purple Hairstreak. Female activity was also minimal. I returned to a different area of the Estate later in the afternoon, but could only add another 8, bringing the day's total to 42 Purple Emperor.

On 4th July I spent a couple of hours in the very beautiful Eartham Woods. This under-recorded site has performed consistently well on the occasions I have visited, and this proved to be my best session yet. 3 males were sallow-searching around the car park and southern gate when I arrived. I later watched a female ovipositing high in the crown of a sallow on the edge of the car park. Best of all were the 2 females seen egg-laying in sallow-rich embayments along Stane Street (Roman road), much deeper in the woods. One in particular was gigantic and she flopped down low in a sallow, allowing me a very close approach - she appeared to be in mint condition. A tally of 6 Emperors (3m, 3f) in two hours is very good for a wood which is seldom visited. I later received reports from Paul Fosterjohn who had seen 23 individual Emperors back at Knepp, and Major Reg Trench who had seen a further 2 with his wife Sophie at Houghton Forest.

Today (5th July) Matthew Oates led a large group of enthusiasts across the Knepp Castle Estate. They made the best of limited weather breaks, notching up a further 31 Purple Emperor. We are both out there again tomorrow with a group, and if the weather is good we hope to see a lot of male/female interaction.

Knepp male

Eartham female

Eartham female

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Susie and Neil. There's always next season and a year away will make your return even sweeter!
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Weald And Downs

This morning (6th July) Matthew Oates and I led a party of visitors around the Knepp Castle Estate, following a brief PowerPoint presentation on the life-cycle of the Purple Emperor. Despite suitable weather for much of the time we struggled to make double figures; the Emperors have become much more difficult lately, suggesting we may be further into the season here than we realised. After our guests had departed we headed back out, but it was only much later in the afternoon that Matthew added sufficient counts to bring us to a respectable total of 22 for the day.

Several species showed here for the first time this summer, including Gatekeeper (large emergence), Essex Skipper and Peacock, the latter suggesting that the butterfly season is still running ahead of average. We also saw 4 White-letter Hairstreak fidgeting around the top of an elm.

On the way home I stopped briefly at Springhead Hill, finding my first Chalkhill Blue of the year, including a lightly spotted aberrant specimen.

[Neil Hulme]

Six-Spot Burnet

This evening (7th July) I took a mid evening stroll around Cissbury Ring. Although the butterflies and day-flying moths had long gone to bed, they were quite easy to find given their abundance; this is a time of plenty. The Six-Spot Burnet moth is a species that I, and I'm sure many others, tend to take for granted, but hot July days on the Downs just wouldn't be the same without it. It deserves a second look - it's a really rather spectacular looking insect.

[Neil Hulme]

Ups And Downs

The fortunes of our various butterfly species have always ebbed and flowed, and always will do. It was only a handful of years ago that the Meadow Brown and Purple Hairstreak were at the top of the abundance table in Sussex, but both have had a run of bad seasons and this is certainly no longer the case, at least over large parts of the county. The Purple Hairstreak has been decimated, by 90% rather than 10%!

Amongst the satyrids there has been a noticeable swing in favour of the Marbled White and Ringlet this season, with Meadow Brown trailing a long way behind on many sites. It looks like the Gatekeeper is similarly set to outperform its ubiquitous cousin, and within days of first appearing it was already overhauling the Meadow Brown when I wandered across the extensive grasslands on the Knepp Castle Estate yesterday (8th July).

Perhaps one of the most welcome features of this ebb and flow is the return of the Small Tortoiseshell. When I cycled across the Downs on 4th July, up through the top of Eartham Woods, past Glatting Beacon to Bignor Hill, then back down Stane Street (a superb Roman Road crossing wonderful Sussex countryside), the Small Tortoiseshell jostled for position on every thistle head. 2013 and 2014 have been blessed with the sort of numbers I haven't seen since my youth. Butterflies can do all sorts of things for us; they can even make us feel young again!

Knepp Castle Gatekeeper

[Neil Hulme]

Less Known Sussex Woods Come Good

With every visit I become increasingly impressed by the Purple Potential of Eartham Woods. I used to visit this site in my childhood on family walks, but it wasn't much good for butterflies in those days. Things are rather better now, largely due to the sympathetic management by FC Ranger Rob Thurlow and his colleagues (Rob used to look after the Pearl-bordered Fritillary in Rewell Wood at Arundel before it was returned to the castle).

About eight years ago, during a phase of thinning, some large scallops were cut into the margins of the towering beech, and then left to regenerate naturally. Good quality sallow has managed to get a firm foothold in most of these areas, along with ash, hazel and bramble.

My count of 16 White Admiral was the best I've managed in Sussex since the species took a nosedive a few years back. Silver-washed Fritillary and Large Skipper both exceeded 20 and it was nice to see 4 Marbled White trundling along the rides. Other highlights included 7 freshly emerged Peacock.

It was Emperors we were really after and a small group of us (Rob Thurlow, Malcolm and Joyce Hill) managed a combined total of 8, comprising 3 males, 3 females (one pictured) and 2 unsexed. They were still flying well at 6 pm and I'm fairly confident that a new territory has been identified at a high point in the middle of the wood, along Stane Street. This beautiful wood is slowly beginning to give up some of its secrets.

Meanwhile, at Houghton Forest (Arundel), Colin Knight managed to photograph 2 females down on the main ride. One was in mint condition and the other scored 8.5/10. Females are usually very skittish while on the deck (there are exceptions of course), probably because they are just after moisture and don't become as engrossed as the males do in nasty stuff, so he did well to get fantastic images of both.

[False Apollo]

Just read your account and I totally agree about females imbibing moisture as the one I saw down actively searched out a damp area to probe in. I had another female down in the same wood yesterday in almost the same place, she was down for around 5 minutes before she flew off. That female had a bit of hindwing missing though.

Regards
Mike

[Neil Hulme]

Good News For The Duke

The Duke of Burgundy emerged in good numbers at Heyshott Escarpment this spring, with a peak day count of 104 adults. Of course this is only a small part of the story, and the fortunes of each species from year to year depend far more on the success (or otherwise) of the early stages than they do on adult numbers; good flight seasons can easily be followed by population crashes.

I was therefore delighted to see the extent of larval feeding damage to the cowslips on this site when I visited yesterday (12th July). Plants over the entire eastern flank of the reserve were peppered with the characteristic pattern left by mature caterpillars. A diligent search is often required on Duke of Burgundy sites, but on this occasion the evidence was simply everywhere I looked, almost to the very summit of the slope. The majority of larvae have probably pupated by now, given the generally good conditions since May, and are now safely tucked up in their mossy beds. Things look very promising for the Heyshott Duke in 2015.

[Wurzel]

Great news about the Dukes at Heyshott Neil I've been reading the Purple exploits with growing envy as Bentley Wood has only produced fleeting sightings this year. Any chance of you doing a 'Purple Masterclass' at a future UKB event?
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Emperors Still Performing

Today (13th July) Matthew Oates and I led the last of the Knepp Wildland Safaris to see Purple Emperor this year. Despite being quite late in the season the butterflies put on a good show for us, with 21 individuals seen, including 4 females. We later returned for an early evening walk in a different area, adding a further 9. One particularly violent male attacked 5 passerines in as many minutes, including both Blue and Long-tailed Tit. By 6 pm the main target was Purple Hairstreak and we watched a bundle of 4 get mixed up with a couple of clashing iris. Towards the end of the day we saw a chase of 4 males in a vista, which is good by any standards. Numbers at Knepp are certainly down on last year, but 30 individuals on a late season afternoon confirm this site as being second only to Fermyn Woods.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Wurzel,

I must be a real anorak to get so excited about plants with a lot of holes in, but it does look good for the future!

Although Fermyn has been its usual epic self, it seems that the majority of Emperor sites have been rather average at best this year, with many being distinctly below par. I believe that Bentley and Alice Holt have both been hard going at times. We should never forget that this is actually a difficult species to work, unless they make a habit of sticking themselves to your trousers, boots and rucksack as they do in Fermyn. One thing does stand out this season, at least in Sussex; those spending time in under-rated, under-visited woods have done surprisingly well. Fortune favours the brave.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Here And There

On Tuesday (15th July) I covered four very different sites, all being quite close to home. I started the day at Fairmile Bottom, where large numbers of Small Skipper are being increasingly joined by the Essex. Once I'd got the head-on identification shot I was after, I moved a short distance up the road to Houghton Forest.

At Houghton I was joined by Colin Knight, who had photographed at least four different Purple Emperor females on the ground here, all in the previous couple of days. Given the apparently small size of the population, and the fact that only a couple of males have been seen on the deck here, I was keen to find out what was going on. I still can't explain it! We saw a female on an egg-laying run, but she didn't want to play the game. After discharging the leftover contents of my bait bucket in the parking bay, I was more than pleased to photograph the stunning, newly hatched Red Admiral which seemed to appreciate this smelly offering.

I then joined Matthew Oates at a private wood near Wiston, but we only saw a single male Emperor high above the canopy. He had managed to find three females earlier in the day, but in my experience they tend to take a rest from egg laying before 4 pm.

My last stop was at Springhead Hill. As afternoon turned to evening the Chalkhill Blues started to slow down, opening their beautiful pearly wings to the weakening sunshine. To me this is the quintessential species of hot July days on the Sussex Downs.

[Wurzel]

Stunning shots as usual Neil but the pose on the second Red Admiral is brill

Have a godun

Wurzel

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Wurzel. I had to get pretty close to (and just downwind of) my rancid shrimp bait, so I really had to suffer for my art.
BWs, Neil

[PhilBJohnson]

Hi Neil,
I also like that second Red Admiral picture. I am assuming you used a tilting LCD screen rather than looking through the view finder with your chin on the ground !
Best Wishes,
Philip