www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I received the following message from Matthew Oates.

Cheers,

- Pete

"A 30 minute Nature programme on His Imperial Majesty is going out on Radio 4 at 9pm on Mon 18th Sept, repeated at 11am the following morning. It is produced by Brett Westwood. It was recorded largely at Fermyn Wood, Northants, this July and involves me (on behalf of the Master Tree Project and all people of Purple disposition), plus Doug Goddard of BC Northants Branch, a couple of out of season birders, and readings from some of the voluminous Purple literature. It could be rather good, as the butterfly put on a cracking performance on the day of our visit.

Enjoy, or drift off peacefully into the Ether...

Matthew

Hi Pete
Robin Edwards, Kevin Earp and I were the 'out of season birders'! We were introducing Kevin to the delights of the emperor and were on our hands and knees on the ground photographing one when Matthew Oates emerged from the trees accompanied by someone carrying what looked like a huge grey furry animal. This turned out to be the BBC's Brett Westwood and a enormous boom microphone covered in grey fur! He had all sorts of sound recording equipment hanging from his shoulders and round his neck. He spent the next half hour interviewing us and recording our thoughts on the emperor. I'm looking forward to hearing the programme. Incidentally, the butterfly we were photographing is the one on the shot that Robin has entered for the competition.
Alex

I'm listening to radio 4 as I write this and you're mentioned by name ... as well as being recorded!

That's your 15 minutes of fame up ...

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:I'm listening to radio 4 as I write this and you're mentioned by name ... as well as being recorded!

That's your 15 minutes of fame up ...

Cheers,

- Pete

Can I have another 15 minutes when they repeat the broadcast at 11am today!!! I can see Fermyn Woods being rather busy next July!!

On Radio 4 again.

There was a Robert Byron nature poem on Radio 4 yesterday morning read by Prince Charles called ‘These I have learnt’.
However, was unable to find it under that title on the internet but you can hear, or see the poem repeated on (Google) BBC Radio 4 - Listen Again page.
Click - Programme finder - Today programme - National Poetry Day - Hear reading. Or see a - Transcript.
Very good but think it’s much too long to copy the whole here.

Ends with All these I learnt when I was a child, and each recalls a place or occasion that might otherwise be lost. They were my own discoveries and taught me to look at the world with my own eyes and with attention. They gave me a first content with the universe, town-dwellers may lack this intimate content.
Referring to his son:
He shall know the butterflies that suck the brambles, marbled white and orange-tip, brimstone, and the carnivorous clouded yellows. He shall watch fritillaries, pearl-bordered and silver-washed, flit like fireballs across the sunlit rides. He shall see that family of capitalists, peacock, painted lady, red admiral and the tortoiseshells, uncurl their trunks to suck blood from bruised plums, while the purple emperor and white admiral glut themselves on the bowels of a rabbit. He shall know the jagged comma, printed with a white c, the manx-tailed iridescent hair-streaks, and the skippers demure as charwomen on Monday morning. He shall run to the glint of silver on a chalk-hill blue - glint of a breeze on water beneath an open sky - and shall follow the brown explorers, meadow brown, brown argus, speckled wood and ringlet. He shall see death and revolution in the burnet moth, black and red, crawling from a house of yellow talc tied half-way up a tall grass. He shall know more rational moths, who like the night, the gaudy tigers, cream-spot and scarlet, and the red and yellow underwings. He shall hear the humming-bird hawk moth arrive like an air-raid on the garden at dusk, and know the other hawks, pink sleek-bodied elephant, poplar, lime, and death's head.
He shall count the pinions of the plume moths, and find the large emerald waiting in the rain-dewed grass.

B & R.