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Nice hairstreaks to finish off the day, Trevor. Judging by that little selection, those tails really do work... I went and found a few myself in Essex today.

Cheers,

Dave

Crickey Trevor - what a few days you're having Cracking PE and then Whitters as well

Have a goodun (looks like you already are )

Wurzel

Cheers Dave. And yes I'm having a ball Wurzel.

It was a very early ' beat the heat ' mission this morning, to my very local
Abbots wood. In just over an hour I found a good nine White Admirals and
a few extremely fresh Silver Washed Fritillaries, among hundreds of Meadow Browns.

Mission accomplished I headed to the nearby tea garden for a huge bacon sandwich !.

Trevor.

Another trip to Chiddingfold forest this morning.
This time I took a friend who had not seen a Purple Emperor for some years.
Even a't 8 am, it was still, sunny and warm. With these conditions I was sure
things would kick-off early, but His Majesty was not for hurrying today, and
it was gone 10.00 before the action started.
As the heat built most grounded Emperors kept their wings tight shut, all
preferring their traditional fayre as opposed to the treats and potions supplied
by their human admirers.
The real highlight of the morning was the discovery of an ab. This was found by
Jan Wilczur, who kindly allowed me and a couple of others some shots.
As Jan only had a video camera, I agreed to post my images around the net,
and credit the find to him. ( his surname is pronounced ' Wiltshire ' ).

Good to see Dave ( millerd ) and some of the annual regulars again.

Trevor.

Oh Wow! What a find I would have been there today Trevor, Dave but I have the painters in and can only 'escape' for short periods.

That really is a splendid butterfly, Trevor. It looks really washed out on top and underneath as well. I wonder if it has a name... It was another great day in the woods one way and another - they were flying all the way back to the car again.

Cheers,

Dave

His Majesty kept his subjects waiting again today, despite the very fine weather.
At least I could enjoy a sit down and a quiet coffee in the cool of the early morning
before the action started, and have the place to myself for an hour or two.

Just after 10.00 we saw a few fly pasts, and soon after our first grounding.
This magnificent male chose the very same spot as yesterday's ab. and kept Pauline
and myself waiting for ages with it's wings closed. Camera poised and aching trigger
finger, this fine specimen granted us a few flashes of exquisite purple, but only on
the Butterflies right hand side. Like several later sightings, this Emperor took to
the vegetation to relax between bouts of mineral/salts seeking.

An excellent morning with some very good company.

Good to see you again Phillip, Pauline and Dave.
Trevor.

That is a really cracking ab Trevor Seeing the Emperors seems so easy over at Chiddingfold They do ground at Bentley but it can be a bit of a wait Hopefully the weather will hold until Sunday lunch time

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Another day, another ab !.

Emperor action today was the slowest so far at Chiddingfold forest.
Was it to do with the heat, or have groundings peaked there.
I spent part of the morning with Katrina, as we walked towards the ' high point '
two Emperors flew up from the track. One later returned, but was clearly not approachable,
so keeping our distance and using some zoom we managed some shots and some purple.

Later I found another Emperor down, and a group of us managed some shots, before it
flew up into a tree. We waited patiently, and the Butterfly eventually returned to the ground.
It was at this point that Andrew555 noticed that this one was different to the rest.
A good look at the Emperor at ground level revealed it to be the second ab. of the week !.

Unfortunately this ab.was reluctant to open up, the only upperside shot I managed was
taken when the Butterfly quickly flicked its wings open then shut again.

Great to spend the morning with Katrina, Andrew555, Fred and the other enthusiasts present.

Trevor

Hi Trevor - great shots as per . Your post has answered my questions

More great shots Trevor and another ab Looks like you get some dodgy characters over your way as well Trevor

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Trevor,
As we discussed the P.E.'s have been behaving in an unusual way this year at Chiddingfold.I think the new surface on the rides has a lot to do with this.Firstly,the P.E.'s seemed to appear and go to ground once it was really hot.Then many of them used their proboscis's (or probosci?) to extract minerals directly from the stones or the hard drive substance between.This took a long time,so they remained with wings closed even up to an hour.They generally seemed to ignore baited areas or dog poo's.I think as things have hotted up the drive surface-like scalpings or railway track aggregate-has given off a vapour that has attracted the P.E.'s in larger numbers than usual.
What do you think?
P.J.U.

Looks like I've been missing a lot of purple action whilst I've been off butterflying further afield! So many diaries to catch up on and so little time.....

A thoroughly enjoyable time Trevor. I see what you mean about your texture shot, the light has caught it just right, very nice.

Cheers

Trevor - I have just been playing "spot the difference" between your two Purple open-wing shots of the 25th, the first being the ab and the second the standard. With just a small scroll up and down repeatedly you can see all the nuances of difference. Its good fun.

WoW Trevor, what else can be said, cracking Emperors Goldie

Looks like I missed another good day in the Forest, Trevor! Another ab. too, very similar to the first, so perhaps a common cause at work. Great shots, too, as ever.

Dave

Many thanks everyone.
I think some of the more unusual Emperor behaviour this year was caused,
partially by the heat, Phillip. The new ride surface of Granite may contain
some attractive minerals. One exact spot attracted several individuals over
several days, including Mondays ab., so was it to do with the minerals on a
particular stone or did that tiny area contain something like dried urine.
The experts, will no doubt, have their theories.

Yesterday Doug and myself went over to Knepp. It was to be a morning of
diverse species. On arrival I found two, low down, Purple Hairstreaks, one
of which, a female, partially opened up before taking off.
Paul Fosterjohn found a grounded Emperor, otherwise PE sightings were
in the trees, or in the air.
The most spectacular event took place at lunchtime as we got into our cars.
A male chasing a female at high speed along the road, it was obviously a rejection
flight as there was a brief ' face off ' on the tarmac, then onto the grass verge
where the male took the hint, leaving the female upside down in the grass !.

Trevor.

Great shots Trevor, that Purp is a beaut, you seem to have a persuasive way with that species

Have a goodun

Wurzel

A great selection of photos in your recent reports Trevor, particularly your PE abs. and that shot showing the texture on the underside of the PE.

Great stuff

Neil.