www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Week 14.

Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2013 (or the last time you saw one!).

This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter, eventually covering all 59 species which are regularly found in the British Isles. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.

Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.

Vince

Purple Emperor

Despite seeing a couple of Emperors on a couple of visits to Bentley Wood actual photo opportunities were pretty sparse and if not for distant shots, non-existent!
On my first visit I definitely saw two individuals, possibly three but the shot below is from my second visit during the third week of July when I was accompanied by Philzoid. In the car park on my our arrival there were all the specialities – Silver Washed Fritillaries, Purple Hairstreaks, White Admirals as well two Emperors staying high and doing fly-bys. We set off hopefully and various people we met on the way regaled us with tales of “saw one here on...” and “you should have been here yesterday!” When we got to the paths between Howe and Donkey Copse we bumped into “Baitman”. After a brief catch-up we carried on a bit further and it was only on our return that we found another Emperor. This one was very skittish and so this was the best shot that I could manage. Hopefully next year will yield a few more on the deck and the majority of Emperors won’t all migrate to Fermyn!
Have a goodun
Wurzel

Botany Bay in the Chiddingfold Wood area was my best opportunity for seeing Emperors this year, after my carefully planned leave in the first week of July went for naught in the lateness of the season. My trip down was on the 19th, and a lovely day it was, and several examples of this beautiful insect were seen. My most lasting memory of the trip was of approaching a female near the ground and watching it take off nearly horizontally into the bushes as a minute adjustment to my balance disturbed one of those bramble runners that are miraculously attached to a bush miles away. However, I did get a few photos of a grounded male and also of another male surveying the world from ten feet up in a hazel tree. The male wings had a noticeably blotchy appearance, which detracted somewhat, but was interesting - not sure what causes this. Dave

My first Purple Emperors of 2013 were seen at Oversley Wood on 13th July where they had apparently been out for a few days. Most of my sightings there were of male acrobatic displays high above the trees in the congregation area. Although arriving later in the day and missing the best time for groundings, I did see a couple taking minerals at the edge of puddles later in the afternoon.

A few days later I saw the reports of the amazing numbers of Purple Emperors at Fermyn and my son Chris and myself both managed to arrange a day off work to head over there. So it was that, a week later, we spent an amazing day at Fermyn as reported in my UKB diary at the time. I believe that the 2013 emergence at Fermyn has probably become legendry with 100+ daily sightings being reported by Mathew Oates and others during the first few days. When we were there the numbers had tailed off a bit but we still saw many more than we have ever seen at one place before, a truly memorable day in a year of many memorable days
I took hundreds of photos and have many favourites including the three below,
Cheers,

Neil

I think my own favourite is this one of Trajan, a couple of hours after he hatched out, when he began to get lively. Some will remember I rescued Trajan as a chrysalis from the woods when his sallow copse was cut down. I lived for four days without drawing the curtains or turning any lights on, so he could sense the diurnal rhythms of nature - and he still managed to emerge in the middle of the afternoon!



The picture on the computer screen is this one - of Trajan shortly before he decided to go exploring. You can see his chrysalis on the left of the picture:



Guy

This has to be my favourite picture for last year.The butterfly is a blob towards the left.
P.J.U.

Ah yes, seems to be consistent behaviour in this sort of habitat

Mmmmm. You can almost smell those trousers!
BWs, Neil

This thread could just as well be entitled 'Sussex Kipper - Favourite Photo of 2013'!!

I say that because I chanced upon the Kipper at Botany Bay on 17th July and he provided a fine tutorial on Emperor behaviour. I saw two males that day, but both were imbibing from faecal matter meaning that I couldn't possibly publish these images anywhere outside of this website!

Finding my first ever Purple Emperor egg, and one which hatched within 24 hours, is a memory that will stay with me forever!
Cheers,

- Pete

I don't like to exaggerate, Pete, but I think that is probably the best photograph that has ever been taken of an iris egg in the wild!

Guy

padfield wrote:I don't like to exaggerate, Pete, but I think that is probably the best photograph that has ever been taken of an iris egg in the wild!

Guy

Too kind, Guy

Cheers,

- Pete

This is meant to be another light hearted pic. 2013 was my first year sighting and trying to photograph these butterflies.
Taking photos of the Purple Emperor in the tree canopy was almost as frustrating as waiting for them to come down to ground level

More seriously, this was my best photo opportunity of 2013.
I can crop it a little but I wish I had zoomed in a little closer for an even clearer image.
I don't carry & don't want to carry a tripod but am happy with a camera small enough to hide in a lunch bag so I don't get the "here comes the ecologist" comments when walking through the woods.
Experts on Bookham Common will probably know, by looking at this image, exactly where this tree is located!