Neil Hulme

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Mark. I used to think that this was the place I'd like my ashes spread, although I don't plan popping off any time soon. I then recall changing my mind, when the site had become so popular, but I now think it might be nice to be around when future generations of butterfly-watchers visit, and of course to keep an eye on my beloved Dukes!

Me too, Matsukaze. I think that an avant garde approach to conservation is always worthy of consideration; over the last few winters we've been mimicking rabbit activity, by mattocking out chunks of turf, to (hopefully) save the chalk-based Sussex Grayling. It initially felt like vandalism!

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Ditchling Common Again

A return to Ditchling Common on 23 June was far more productive. This time, I arrived much earlier, just in case the early haze and scattered clouds burned off. At 8.30 am I had 'Hairstreak Alley' to myself, apart from the five Black Hairstreaks which were waiting for me, sitting around on the bracken. Some were already showing a little wear and tear, but throughout the morning I encountered freshly emerged examples of both sexes.

It wasn't long before I bumped into Max Anderson, so we headed off to look at some of the less-well-visited areas when the number of butterfly-watchers swelled. Between us, we spotted upwards of 20 Black Hairstreak. Many were camera-shy, but a couple were far more cooperative.

Other species seen included Dark Green Fritillary, Small Tortoiseshell, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and Red Admiral.

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Firsts

Yesterday (28 June), I was back to work leading safaris on the Knepp Wildland, following a few days in Cornwall for my niece's wedding. It wasn't an appropriate time to be taking photographs, but I soon chalked up a number of personal firsts for the season: Marbled White, Small Skipper, Ringlet, Purple Hairstreak, second brood Green-veined White and a few summer Comma. The Purple Emperor must now be imminent and is likely to first show on the first or second day of July.

[Neil Hulme]

The Time Has Come

Yesterday (30 June), I spent an enjoyable afternoon with Matthew Oates, visiting some woods in the Southwater area. We saw 20+ White Admiral (all male) and of the seven individuals I photographed, only one was still free of the scratches and nicks which are picked up almost immediately after emergence; I suspect the majority of males are already out. Among the 10+ Silver-washed Fritillary seen was the first female I've encountered this year.

The combination of these events (and the oaks now turning bluish, aside from the flush of Lammas growth) always coincides with the first Purple Emperors of the year. We saw none, but David Cook claimed the first definitive sighting on 29 June, so the time has come. Today, I'm leading my first Purple Emperor safari of the year at Knepp; it feels like an England versus Germany penalty shoot-out, but we don't need those anymore.

A few Ringlet, Marbled White and Comma were also on show, together with some fine displays of Common Spotted-orchid.

Good luck, all; England expects ...

[trevor]

Your day yesterday mirrored my morning today.
At Abbots Wood I saw two very fast SWF, and a minimum of five White Admirals,
which were not very co-operative, not posing as they should for the camera !.

I'm calling in at Chiddingfold tomorrow on my way to Wiltshire, full of high hopes
and stinky stuff. Wishing you happy hunting, Neil, Let's hope it's kick off time !.

All the best, stay well,
Trevor.

[Neil Hulme]

Good luck, Trevor. I'm sure I'll bump into you soon.
However, you may have to wait a little longer. Not a sniff of the Big Purple One at Knepp yesterday and I didn't see a single Purple Hairstreak!
This is going to feel like a 1980s season in terms of timings.
BWs, Neil

[Allan.W.]

Hello Neil ,
Fairmile Bottoms looking grand Neil ! ,had my yearly visit yesterday (and early AM , This morning )and as you predicted the Orchids are superb ,some absolute beauties on show ,also found good numbers of Frog and Bee ,plus one orchid that could be a Common spot / Frog hybrid ,so well pleased !
Too early for any butterflies to be out and about ,but did manage to find one roosting Dark Green Frittillary ,went back to the digs absolutely drenched ......................but no matter ! a very enjoyable couple of hours
Regards Allan.W.

[David M]

...The combination of these events (and the oaks now turning bluish, aside from the flush of Lammas growth) always coincides with the first Purple Emperors of the year. We saw none, but David Cook claimed the first definitive sighting on 29 June, so the time has come. Today, I'm leading my first Purple Emperor safari of the year at Knepp; it feels like an England versus Germany penalty shoot-out, but we don't need those anymore.

That's a useful pointer, Neil, and I'm sure it's only the grey and dull weather holding them back now. Looks like things will improve from next Wednesday onwards meaning we should have lift-off.

Good luck with your safaris.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi Allan. Glad you enjoyed Fairmile Bottom; it's a great and ever-improving site. I've seen Common Spotted x Frog there before, so I suspect that's what you saw. I loved your early-morning DGF shot. A day off from relentless seasonal work for me, so I may pop down there later.

Thanks, David. Even now, He's only just kicking off properly; five seen at Knepp yesterday. First smelly baits down tomorrow!

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

2 July 2021

I spent most of the day performing butterfly and bird surveys over a large area of privately-owned land near Knepp; this will also be getting the 'rewilding' treatment. However, I'll be advising a light touch, as there is so much good stuff there already. It was a joy to walk through overgrown former pasture fields and flush out dense clouds of Meadow Brown and Marbled White.

With just a couple of hours of warmth still free at the end of the day, I headed to a nearby wood that I've been helping to manage for many years now. I saw a total of 11 White Admiral, including a mint-condition female. I suspect this might be one of the last I see in perfect condition this year; I do wish they'd look after themselves a little better.

[Neil Hulme]

Clearwings

On 4 July, I co-led two Purple Emperor safaris at Knepp. The Big Purple One is not playing ball so far; very disappointing! However, there is always plenty to see at Knepp, and this was a day all about the fascinating clearwing moths. One of our guests, Andrew Mitchell, kindly put some pheromone lures out in the sallow scrub and I was delighted when he checked the traps and beckoned our group over.

The two Lunar Hornet (a superb Hornet mimic) and six Red-tipped Clearwings he trapped provided some welcome highlights and posed beautifully for the cameras. The larvae of both species bore into and feed inside the trunks of sallows and willows.

[Neil Hulme]

Lunar Hornets & Purple Emperors

Yesterday (11 July) I led two more Purple Emperor safaris at Knepp, seeing 13 individuals during the morning event and 15 during the afternoon. Based on their locations, there would have been little overlap between the sightings. The weather was very mixed, with long distances covered under no-fly weather. I concluded that we were, finally, seeing the start of a significant build in numbers. I suspect that a much wider coverage of the site, as performed on non-safari days, would probably have unearthed in the region of 40 under favourable conditions. No females have been seen at Knepp yet this year, although some have misidentified males as females. This suggests that the flight season may still prove to be reasonable at Knepp, although far more modest than in good years. The best will come from Wednesday onward.

Andrew Mitchell again put out a pheromone lure in the sallow scrub, this time trapping five specimens of the awesome Lunar Hornet moth.

[David M]

His Imperial Majesty is playing hard to get this year it seems, Neil. Let's hope you're right and numbers build to coincide with this mini heatwave that's supposed to begin today.

Those moths are pretty impressive by way of compensation. The feat of mimicry is quite amazing.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi David. The Purple Emperor did get off to a very slow start this year, but it's enjoyed a much better season than predicted, at least at Knepp, where it's still going strong.
BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Knepp Wildland Emperors

My Purple-Partner-In-Crime, Matthew Oates, lost sleep over what he feared might be a horrible crash in numbers at Knepp this year. I was more optimistic, predicting a modest year and certainly well below the best that Knepp can produce. Analysis of the season so far suggests that it is doing rather better than expected, with data indicating a much longer, flatter peak than normal. This is not such a bad thing, as it spreads risk, and is unsurprising given the way that monitored larvae/pupae became 'strung-out' by the spring and early summer weather (see Ben's diary). Even now, there is plenty of life left in the flight season, with many males still in good condition. The butterfly should still be flying as we approach mid-August.

This table summarises my counts to date.

These are my personal tallies, with the exceptions being 23 and 26 July, which are Matthew's figures on days when I was elsewhere. The low figure for 25 July reflects the persistence of all-day rain. My figures should be seen in context; on the majority of days I've been leading safaris, so I covered far less ground than I would on monitoring days during less-busy years; far more would have been seen had I been free to wander. On the other hand, I benefit from an 'access all areas' pass, and often the use of a small 4x4.

Groundings at Knepp have been more common this year. For a period of about ten days they averaged four or five a day. Unfortunately, they usually occurred while I was busy with a tour, often coming down to the belachan baits that I'd laid first thing in the morning (all part of the service at Knepp!). You can probably imagine how frustrating it was, to have to walk away from a freshly-minted grounded male, just as it opened it beautiful wings, without taking a single shot, as guests were waiting. I had to keep telling myself that this was a job, albeit the best job imaginable.

Aside from groundings on the main tracks, the Knepp Emperors were up to other antics. Operation Wallacea, an ecology field school for young adults, had regular visits to their marquee over the period of a week, and to their Portaloos. Other males were seen taking salts from the walls of an old barn, both inside and out, or just sitting on the Emperor-emblazoned signage at the entrance. A young Phd student, studying the individual roles played by colony members of the Sharp-collared Furrow Bee, sat in the same small enclosure day after day. An Emperor was a regular visitor to the muddy puddle a few metres away, then sat on his mobile phone and clipboard.

Activity was often heat-suppressed during the spell of really hot weather, but sluggish days were often followed by epic evening flights. I was lucky enough to see three 'rejection drops' (others saw plenty more), with one pair falling onto the track, right between my feet. I also watched three courting flights, with the females calmly leading their attendant males up to bed high in an oak or tall sallow.

Sap runs have been unusually intermittent, attracting Emperors for a day or two before switching off, only to switch back on again. As always, the violence has been highly entertaining, with regular attacks on Red Admirals, Large Whites, Purple Hairstreaks, Chiffchaffs and other assorted avifauna.

If we can avoid the prolonged flight season gales of last year, and the subsequent drought conditions, then things are already looking good for a spectacular bounce-back in 2022. The sallows are in superb condition and many females have been busy at work. But there's still plenty more to enjoy at Knepp over the next week or ten days.

[Benjamin]

Interesting summary Neil. I certainly agree that 2022 could be strong at Knepp, and this has the potential to give some context to my own assessment of this season. It’s always a difficult judgement to make though, particularly defining ‘par’ in a rapidly evolving site and disentangling absolute numbers from survivability and visibility due to flight period weather, but you are certainly best placed to make the call!

No excuses though - with UV in play we need a hatched pupae count for next year.

[trevor]

I think you have summed up nicely what the 2022 could look like, Neil.
At this stage in the year the sallows should remain in good condition with the regular
rainfall we have had this spring and summer. Certainly the sallows at Chiddingfold generally
look to be in good condition, though there was mildew present on a few bushes.
Hopefully this years emerging larvae will have plenty of succulent leaves to munch on
and we will have a bumper crop of Emperors to look forward to next year!.

Stay safe,
Trevor.

[David M]

Nice summary, Neil. After last summer's gales/storms at a critical time and poor condition of sallows later on, it's hardly surprising the Emperors have been seen in smaller numbers this year. Looks like things will remain benign over the next week or so, which will hopefully mean the flight season will have been a very successful one in terms of pairings/ovipositing this summer.

I hope the 'bounce-back' you refer to will materialise in 2022.

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks, Ben. Pupae per hectare is the new metric in PE population assessment . Given the difficulties in finding early stages in the vast sallow jungles at Knepp, I suspect that we'll be seeing a spectacular light-show there next June. Despite high and strengthening winds on Thursday (29 July), the adults were still showing remarkably well.

Thanks, Trevor and David. Yesterday's (30 July) gales will not have helped, but the really rough stuff only lasted for 24 hours this time. More importantly, the females (surely almost all out by now) appear to survive these conditions better than the males (roosting lower down), and by now the males are superfluous.

BWs, Neil

[Neil Hulme]

Still Going Strong

On Thursday (29 July) I led another two wildlife safaris at Knepp. Although the named 'Purple Emperor Safari' events finished on 15 July, those now attending general or butterfly walks are experiencing some of the best Purple action during this very late (by 21st century standards) season.

The combined tally for morning and afternoon walks was 26 Purple Emperors, despite the increasingly windy conditions. Three 'rejection drops' were seen at point-blank range. During one, both male and female came within a few centimetres of ditching in a large puddle. A second pair actually hit the deck, allowing the group to see both sexes sitting in a grassy field. We also found a lovely female perching very low in a sallow, before relocating to a stand of bramble at head-height.

I'm back there on Sunday; it will be interesting to see how damaging yesterday's storm has been.