Thanks, Buggy - I may have to pay a visit to Bookham...
I hope you have some luck with the SWF, Goldie - lovely butterflies.
July 11th Part One: Today dawned sunny, so it had to be the annual pilgrimage to Botany Bay to seek out the Purple Emperor. I arrived before nine, and made my way down the path (which is much more shaded now than it used to be). Ringlets and Skippers darted around the verges, and every now and again Silver-washed Fritillaries came down briefly to nectar on brambles.
Climbing up the hill after the bridge, I was distracted by a splendid Painted Lady.
I turned right down the path towards the Tugley Wood entrance, and was soon rewarded by the sight of a Purple Emperor swooping and soaring over the uppermost branches of the trees. I then came across Mark and Paul, and between us along this path we saw a probable five individuals. The path had been baited the day before, so we planted ourselves at regular intervals to see if one would come down. It was close once or twice, but no luck. We separated, and almost immediately I spotted one at the junction of the paths, circling ever lower until, after a last distraction of a particularly huge Large White, it finally landed. With a few breaks to perch in nearby trees, it was down for 20 minutes or so. It was a nice specimen, its sole blemish a small hole in the middle of one wing.
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Mark and I walked up to the high point, and were discussing Holly Blues and their habits. Right on cue, one appeared and proceeded to spend some time indulging in sucking up the noxious substances laid down for the Emperor.
At one point it rested on a bit of foliage and opened up.
Having suitably primed his finger, Mark persuaded it to crawl onto it for a while.
There being no further Emperors, I turned around and detoured through the meadow, where I had seen White Admirals last year. No luck today (though there were a few around in the wood as a whole), but there were large numbers of Ringlets and quite a few Marbled Whites (which weren't here last year).
At this point, it clouded over and cooled down, so I headed back to the car.
Part Two: I decided that a side trip to Dawneys Hill near Pirbright on the way back would be not too far out of the way. I was hoping Graylings might have started to appear, and I was not to be disappointed. The sun re-emerged shortly after I arrived, which was also fortuitous, Near the entrance to the site, I saw Ringlets, Gatekeepers, Large Skippers (including several females laying) and one or two Meadow Browns. Out amongst the heather and gorse, there were still Silver-studded Blues to be seen, rather worn now and seeming so tiny in relation to the large butterflies seen earlier.
Once out in the more open areas with lots of bare ground, I started to disturb Graylings. Every one I saw was a male - no doubt the rather larger females will be out before long. As usual, if I stood still, the butterflies would approach nearer and nearer until they started briefly settling on my boots and trousers. Altogether, I must have seen at least a dozen.
Dave