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Today I was recalling the first occasion I saw a Purple Emperor. I remember the occasion well. My excitement as it glided down from the tree top, circled in a clearing displaying the majestic purple & then zooming off to lofty heights.

What I do not remember is when it was - the late 70's I guess.

So it is just a suggestion to new butterfly watchers - have a special note book & when you see a new species record all the details I am sure you will enjoying reading it in years to come & reliving exciting moments. I wish I had done that & its too late now!

So folks what memories do you have of seeing your first of a species? And does anyone keep a good record of these?

I have a Collins Gem book of butterflies and moths and I write on the appropriate page the first time I see a species. As I haven't been "butterflying" for long many of my finds are recent, such as my first Marbled White just two weeks ago.

I am desperate to add Purple Emperor to the list!

I call them "Emotional Moments". My last one was the large blue at Green Down last year.

The Heath Frit was an emotional moment but my partner didn't care. Twas in Blean Woods. The Glanville was good about 3 years ago. Personally the butterfly that keeps on giving me emotional moments is the Purple Emperor! It's like a first sighting everytime!!

Best is to go to the continent, you see firsts all the time over there, and if yer armed with yer collins book and yer Tristan Lafrancis you can't go wrong!

Still to see a British Swallowtail, a black hairstreak, a chequered Skip, a large Heath, a camberwell, a large Tort.....lots of emotional moments to come!!!

Danny

I've photographed 220 species of European butterfly and I can remember my first of almost every one of them - the exceptions being just a handful of very common butterflies that were always there in my garden when I was a child. But of course it's not just the firsts that stick in the memory. My recollections of everywhere I've been (in the summer, at least) are crystallised around butterflies and they give a framework for very particular memories of dates and places that someone without a similar focus, whether it be old churches, birds, pub signs or even trains, would probably never have.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that an interest like this helps to ward off senile dementia and Alzheimer's... I wonder if any research has been done on this.

Guy

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that an interest like this helps to ward off senile dementia and Alzheimer's... I wonder if any research has been done on this.

I am sure I have seen some, but can't remember where.................................

What's a butterfly?

Martin and Roger, I think that's juvenile dementia, which is quite different!

Sorry Lynn! Back to first sightings of butterflies...

Guy

Hi Rosie

Can't remember whereabouts in the country you are but I am sure there is one near you a Purple Emperor that is! ( I could say they are like rats but that would bring down the wrath of the people of purple disposition down upon me. Visit http://www.thepurpleempire.com for emperor news and maybe to find out where they are near you.

Matthew Oates has got a good article in British Wildlife June 2008 issue & in The Telegraph on 12th or 19th July there is to be an article by Peter Marren arising from a recent interview with Matthew. Matthew will also be on Inside Out ( BBC - but maybe only the south edition) with the PEs at Alice Holt forest within the next few months.

PEs are not around for long so get out there!!

Hullo Lynn,

It's not what you've got, it's what you do with it that counts.

Apparently having the sites is not enough, you have to do a couple more things:-

a) not look in all the wrong places;

b) not look for butterflies in the rain.

I'm still awaiting that elusive first tick ...

My first was in Bentley Wood, about three years ago. Right at the end of the day, when we'd given up hope, a large female appeared through a hole in the canopy.

I'm off this Saturday (weather permitting) to scope out a possible (and I use the word in the loosest of senses) PE site close(ish) to me...

What's the farthest west that PE's are recorded nowadays?

Rosie, Matthew Oates saw wonderful PEs in Alice Holt at the end of the afternoon after a day of rain - he says they like flying after a shower once it is sunny again.

I have had a look at BC's Millennium Atlas published in 2001. The map shows that PEs certainly favour west Kent, Sussex Hampshire Surrey & Witshire but there are dots south of the Bristol Channel. looks like grid squares ST & SY. Hope that helps. People of the Purple Empire believe there are unknown colonies out there to be discovered so we wish you well.

Hi Lynn/Rosy,
Lynn, I'm afraid I was responsible for getting Rosy soaking wet I ran a BC walk to Southwater yesterday (where numbers have been in double figures all week!), only to have the heavens open (as they did on the trip last year). We saw 2 species of butterfly (Meadow Brown and Ringlet) and 2 species of rain (persistent and torrential). As soon as I'm back from a soaking at Fermyn, I'll do a re-run for all those that didn't quite drown!
Neil

Purple Emperor in the south-west - not sure of any sites west of Wiltshire. There is a big red dot in the Millenium Atlas which could be Ashclyst Forest in Devon. The Somerset records are odd ones every few years around the Blackdowns/Taunton and at Shapwick Heath, which make sense from a habitat point of view but there is no known colony and could equally well be releases. I have started to look at some of the east Somerset woods where the habitat might be right but it is hard going - could easily take a decade or more to track down the elusive beast.

My first Holly Blue was last year, at a holly bush leading into a forest. First confirmed in the area. Thought it was a common blue as I had never seen another blue species in wild before. This year, holly blues are all over this area now, except for the place I first found them last year, none was found there Nearly every holly bush with ivy nearby here has some holly blues at it, recorded 7-8 different locations within less than a mile and possibly more.

Hi Matsukaze

What about Brockley Combe - didn't that used to be a source of sporadic sightings?

There is a breeding colony in north Devon, but I forget where... I shall have to have a look in the little book 'Devon Butterflies'...

also, are you in a position to shed more light on the Shapwick sightings? without looking at a map, isn't that geographically quite near to Great Breech Wood..?

Felix.

Annie and Matsukaze



I think the confirmed breeding is Ashclyst Forest, but I have visited many times myself and seen nothing. However, I am sure an expert like Sussexkipper would know better where to look....
The North Devon records are almost certainly the fabulous and under-visited Marsland, where PBF are amazing in the early spring. I have never been there at PE time, but really ought to (maybe this weekend?).
As far as Somerset is concerned, I was at a boarding school in Street in the late '60s, and one of the masters reported PEs in Copley Wood, a few miles SSE of Street.
I knew the wood quite well, as we used them to explore cigarettes, alcohol and local girls, but I got sent home to SW London just before PE time every year.
The authoratitive 50 Butterfly Walks in Somerset & Bristol (Still in print, so no scans - buy it yourself!) says PE present at Great Breach Wood (Poldens) and Brockley Combe (North Mendips) and Cogley Wood (nr Wilts Border) up to early '80s. Locals reported it from somewhere "south of Taunton" between '92 and '95.
One always has to be careful of releases of course.
Hope this is of some use.
Roger Harding

I have yet to be graced with a sighting of the Emperor unfortunately. My most memorable first so far was two years ago at Clanger Wood in Wiltshire when I saw my first silver washed fritillary. The speed and graceful flight of this huge butterfly zooming through the dappled light of the woodland took my breath away. I've been chasing them again today, at Lower Woods near Wickwar in Gloucestershire and I still get the same buzz from seeing them.

Thanks Roger!

Felix.

Felix - Brockley Combe is mostly conifer plantation now, and looks really poor habitat for most butterflies. There are still some pockets of "natural" woodland about and it is just about possible that a canopy species like Purple Emperor might hang on there - though as far as I know the last record was IRP Heslop's in 1969. It is below Bristol airport, which would probably suit the Emperor as it could chase the jets away and drink any spilt aviation fuel...

I know no more about Purple Emperor at Shapwick than there being dots on the appropriate map at the appropriate place from some time in the last 20 years. There is plenty of sallow there in what is basically carr woodland, which is supposed to be good for White Admiral and Purple Hairstreak.

Roger - Copley Wood and Great Breach Wood are two different parts of the same larger woodland (as I expect you know!) I am not sure what happened to the Purple Emperor here but there was a failed reintroduction attempt a few years back.

The Cogley Wood colony is supposed to be extinct, but I have no idea if anyone is still looking.

Cogley Wood was where I was heading this weekend, though due to time constraints I may not be able to get there.

I know Great Breach/Breech Wood and Copley Wood, it was place that Heslop visited frequently I believe, though I don't know whether for PE's. I might just head out there this weekend for a quick buzz round to see what else is about; I also want to explore the little bald knob near Compton Dundon, just nearby.