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Quality Not Quantity

On Monday morning (11 July) I led a walk for Steyning U3A at Eartham Wood. Unfortunately the weather was against us, although we still managed to winkle out a White Admiral from amongst the Ringlets and Meadow Browns. As always, the Steyning group was great company, but next year I'll design a walk for them which is weatherproof.

Brian Henham stayed on with me after lunch and the sun eventually broke through, bringing this beautiful wood to life. Rob Thurlow and his Forestry Commission colleagues have done a brilliant job in reshaping Eartham over the last decade; it is now far better for butterflies than it ever was in my youth. However, in line with results almost everywhere, numbers were disappointingly low. It was a case of quality rather than quantity, with lovely specimens of White Admiral and both male and female Silver-washed Fritillary seen. Although there were plenty of Ringlets flopping about, their numbers are still much lower than seen here in most years.

The one species which put on a really good show was the Red Admiral. The significant influx of spring migrants has clearly made the best possible use of lush nettle growth. Expect to see large numbers in some areas, as a major hatch appears to be underway.

We finally located our main target when a male Purple Emperor sailed majestically into sight and did a couple of circuits around some Sallows. I was delighted to get a call from Brian the following day, telling me of his exploits with an Eartham Emperor, which gave the best 'Purple Emperor on hand' shots I've ever seen.

Unicycles For Sale

A recent trip to Fermyn was cut short courtesy of the 'Road to Hell'. But was a total of 10 hours in the car worth just 2.5 hours in Lady Wood? Yes, of course. And this was despite the fact that my trusty steed, which has given such good service for so many years, is dead. He had struggled against poor health over the last few Purple Emperor seasons, losing his brakes, gears, and failing every risk assessment in the book.

We have now departed company - all three of us. I will have to return to bring home his mortal remains, as logistical difficulties meant I had no option but to leave him in some corner of a Fermyn field. Thanks to Mark Joy for taking photographs when my old friend fell apart, and I fell off, and again when I repaired him, and then fell off again.

Oh yes - I did see a few Purple Emperors (7), bumped into a few friends, and had a great time. But Fermyn is performing well below par. Would anyone like to purchase two beautiful unicycles?

Knepp Highlights 2016

The guided events to see Purple Emperor at the Knepp Castle Estate Wildland http://www.kneppsafaris.co.uk concluded today (17 July), with a walk for 'A Focus On Nature' (AFON) http://www.afocusonnature.org Over the six events I've been involved with, mostly co-led by Matthew Oates, we've seen a few more than 200 Emperors.

There have been many highlights and a significant increase in the number of grounded butterflies this season. Only yesterday I saw a huge, freshly emerged Empress on the surface of the green lane, and before I arrived today some of the AFON group had photographed a pristine male on a cowpat. Significantly, this is at least the third sighting of a male feeding on a cowpat, probably reflecting the organic nature of the Longhorn faeces at Knepp. These days, the vast majority of cowpats are probably closer in composition to frisbees, given the level of bovine medication.

Over the last few weeks we have seen numerous Empress 'rejection drops' and one pair ended up in the grass at our feet. A more successful tryst led to a 3 hour 59 minute coupling at the top of an Oak. However, with total numbers well down on 2015 (maximum day count 61 this year), there appears to have been less violence; attacks on birds have been quite rare (although a Common Buzzard got whacked today). Matthew and I have both already located Purple Emperor eggs and the large amount of female activity observed amongst the sallow thickets (on-going) bodes well for next year's crop.

This year the star-of-the-show was pin-up girl Raymonda, who we believe is the most photographed Purple Emperor in history. Literally hundreds of people have seen her since she was first located as a small caterpillar in 2015, by resident Knepp ecologist and BC Sussex stalwart Penny Green. It was therefore fitting that Penny was there to see Raymonda hatch and take to the wing on Thursday (14 July), after she had ceremonially 'trousered' Knepp's owner, Charlie (Raymonda, not Penny).

Although we have now seen the best of the Emperor season, there will still be plenty of action to enjoy through the remainder of July. Winter lasts a very long time, so I will be returning again and again to drink in the magic of Knepp, at least until the cool air of autumn is reverberating to the sound of rutting Fallow bucks.
Raymonda about to hatch
Raymonda has hatched!
Raymonda sitting above pupal case (image Charlie Burrell)
Raymonda on her master's hand
Raymonda - the sequel

School's Out!

On Friday (15 July) I was joined by 30 children and 6 adults from Laughton Community Primary School for a visit to our Park Corner Heath and Rowland Wood reserves. The sight of so many happy youngsters rushing around spotting and learning to identify butterflies and other wildlife is always a welcome relief from the pressures of trying to save our rarer species from disappearing. It is, not least, a reminder of the importance of the conservation work we do, protecting what we can for future generations to enjoy.
On the way home I stopped off at Springhead Hill, where I saw my first Chalk Hill Blue of the year, and the unfurling flowers of Round-headed Rampion (aka Pride of Sussex).

The Admiral's Fleet

At the end of the first week in May we saw the start of a significant influx of Red Admirals from mainland Europe. These butterflies clearly enjoyed the excellent breeding conditions provided by lush nettle growth, which developed through late spring and early summer. We are now seeing the fruit of their labours as smart, new Red Admirals appear in ever increasing numbers. I'm now seeing them almost everywhere I go.

I photographed a few of those I saw around the beautiful Hammer Pond at Knepp yesterday (18 July), while hoping for a Purple Emperor to land; which it did the previous day, much to the delight of a visiting group from 'A Focus On Nature' http://www.afocusonnature.org The Knepp Emperors are still going well and Matthew Oates reached an impressive tally of 46 yesterday. While 2016 may prove to be a rotten year for most butterfly species, the autumn might be really spectacular for the Red Admiral.

The 'W' In 'The One Show'

Some of you may have seen the White-letter Hairstreak making an appearance on 'The One Show' last night (21 July). This sequence was filmed a couple of weeks ago, on 5 July, at a site on the outskirts of Littlehampton. I had been asked to help the BBC get some close-up footage of this species, to provide the last, naturally occurring letter in the presenters' quest to spell out the programme name.

As there was a teachers' strike that day, I was able to take 12-year-old Joseph Reavey (and dad, Duncan) along, in the hope of helping him see his 50th species in the UK. Not only did we achieve this in style, but Joseph had his photograph taken with presenters Mike Dilger and George McGavin! Mike rated this as one of his best butterfly experiences, as the White-letter Hairstreaks swarmed around us. I performed a count later that day and managed a tally of 88, a number which I never achieved even back in the 1970s.

This species has been one of the few to perform well this season, at least in West Sussex where it remains under-recorded. Three colonies on the Knepp Castle Estate Wildland have yielded counts of up to a dozen individuals.

Lovely shots Neil , if I could just find one I'd be happy Goldie

Great stuff, Neil. You have seen some epic things lately, and more importantly, shared them with many, many others.

Thanks, Goldie: at the 'right' site (and there aren't many of those), they're easy; at the rest, they're a nightmare!
Thanks, David: as you know, spreading 'the word' is vital.

Knepp Emperor Season Fading

The Purple Emperor season at Knepp may just be showing the first signs of winding down for the year, although numbers are still higher than at peak anywhere else in Sussex! On 23 July Matthew Oates and Paul Fosterjohn counted 28 between them, which was followed by a tally of 23 by Matthew on 24 July. In good conditions yesterday (25 July) I could only muster 9 in a couple of hours.

I've recently been sent a few nice images of Knepp Emperors including: a male sitting in a sallow and a close-up of the ripening egg I initially discovered on 15 July, taken during a visit by my brother, Mark, on 20 July; and a male on a cowpat, taken by Matt Adam Williams during the 'A Focus On Nature' http://www.afocusonnature.org group meeting on 17 July.

The Brown Hairstreak is also now flying at Knepp, with the first seen by Paul Fosterjohn on 23 July, followed by sightings of 2 and 5 on subsequent days by Matthew.

HI Neil,

Is that ' the ' egg ?.
I'll always remember the 2016 Emperor season for the' all wings purple' opportunities I had.
Brownies next then !.

Trevor.

Hi Trevor,
It is indeed 'the' egg. Now hatched and shell eaten, leaving just a shiny disc on the leaf surface. I'll let you know if the cat survives.
BWs, Neil

You lead a charmed life, Neil. Once Purple Emperors have disappeared, you have Brown Hairstreaks to concentrate on (followed maybe by Long-Tailed Blues!)

Hi David,
The possible return of the LTBs has certainly crossed my mind in the last week or two (every day ).
BWs, Neil

The Poorest Of Years

A visit to Cissbury Ring on Tuesday afternoon (26 July) provided my first (3) Silver-spotted Skippers of the year, and the opportunity to photograph some beautiful, female Chalk Hill Blues. Despite these highlights, I was shocked by a dearth of butterflies that I have never experienced in the nearly fifty years I've visited the site at this time of year. I suspect that numbers of both these species will build significantly, but there can be little doubt that the overall picture for 2016 is exceptionally grim.

Agreed Neil. I definitely fear that 2016 will be known as one of the worst years ever for butterflies

selbypaul wrote:Agreed Neil. I definitely fear that 2016 will be known as one of the worst years ever for butterflies

Without a doubt in my opinion. We desperately need a cold winter and a warm April next year.

I'm seeing fewer butterflies than ever before right now, and this time of year is probably when you'd expect to see the greatest numbers!

Global warming, eh?

The Bigger Picture - Monitoring At Knepp

On 31 July and 3 August I covered many miles of highly variable habitat, including dry and damp meadows, woodland and copse, parkland and river bank, as part of my annual butterfly monitoring over the Northern and Middle Blocks of the Knepp Castle Estate.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, only those butterflies which form large populations over extensive habitat in excellent condition are likely to resist the worst effects of the weather-extremes driven by climate change. This is why some observers have reported good numbers of some species on some sites in Sussex, although I would argue against the use of the term "abundance" in many cases - this being relative. My surveys of Knepp do not measure the fortunes of our butterflies in the manner which so many others do, on nature reserves or on our carefully managed, premier sites, and in many respects have more in common with the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS). They perhaps give a less biased, more generalised snapshot of what's happening in the countryside. I have yet to crunch all of the numbers, but I can already see how shocking the 2016 results are for a wide variety of species. Several have crashed severely.

As always when walking long distances through the beautiful countryside of Sussex (and parts of Knepp are looking increasingly like a more beautiful, ancient Sussex), there were some fabulous butterflies to be seen. Summer brood Holly Blues are appearing and I watched several males processing minerals from cowpats and urine. It was nice to see a couple of second generation Brown Argus in one field, although the species is still struggling this year. The Brimstone will be more highly valued when it stirs from hibernation towards the end of winter, but it will never be more beautiful than it is just now. I saw several Painted Ladies which showed that strong salmon-pink colouration, indicating a very recent hatching on Sussex soil. Best of all, as the last Purple Emperors of the year disappear into the sunset, I watched the next generation clinging to a sallow leaf.

This has indeed been a very depressing year for butterflies. There are times when I think that it won't be long before we celebrate the appearance of a single Large White or Meadow Brown

However, on a more positive note, my trip to Friston Gallops yesterday (viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7530#p113055) did produce respectable numbers of Chalk Hill Blues. Nothing like the numbers of a few years ago, but at least they are still there.

This year I've found myself actually chasing a Common Blue through dozens of Chalkhills for a rare picture! That is a truly sorry state of affairs to be in