Emperors and Admirals

A trip over to the Knepp Estate on Sunday, looking for Purple Emperors, was successful in that I saw plenty of them but also disappointing, in that I did not see any on the ground. As usual they were patrolling territories at the tops of the trees, with just the one, pictured below, venturing about half way down and giving  a few record shot opportunities.

I would think that this is a freshly emerged individual that is just hardening off before he enters the skirmishes above him.

Freshly emerged male Purple Emperor

nearly an upper wing view

White Admirals were also on the wing and like the Emperors they were squabbling over territory. There are a huge number of trees around Knepp but the two I saw both appear to want the same space. Strange enough I saw a couple disputing the same spot last year. There must be something there that they want.

White Admiral

White Admiral

Underwing view

Lots more purple around the trees in the form of Purple Hairstreaks. Again a butterfly of the tree tops where they feed on honeydew secreted by aphids. They do occasionally come down to nectar on flowers but not today. An open wing shot of one of these down low is second only to a pristine Chequered Skipper on my butterfly hit list.

Purple Hairstreak - just a bit too high in the tree

and showing me what an open wing shot looks like if only I could get a bit closer

Lots of other butterflies around including a Small Tortoiseshell. Worth recording as I haven't seen many of these about this year.

Small Tortoiseshell

Plenty of Large Skippers and Marbled Whites

Large Skipper

Marbled White

And my first Small Skippers of the year. I had forgotten how small they are and initially took them to be a cloud of  flies buzzing round a muddy puddle.

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

The butterfly year list is looking a bit healthier after the past weeks focus and I also added my first Broad-bodied Chaser of the year.

Silver-spotted Skipper

The summer quiet patch has ended and the second half of the Butterfly year seems to going really well. My impression is that there are more butterflies around than last year although it may just be that in the hot weather they are more active than usual.

I should be able to see 46 butterflies in the year and that is without travelling outside of Sussex. As I was falling well short of that number I have spent the last few days trying to fill some of the gaps. Most are now annual pilgrimages, Newtimber Hill for the Silver-spotted Skippers, Windover Hill for the Chalkhill Blue and Grayling, and the more recent addition of Knepp for the Purple Hairstreaks.

Sometimes it seems a bit pointless going round seeing the same butterflies and taking the same pictures but then there are never two years the same. Numbers vary, habitats change, some locations fade away and others open up. Just seeing the changes taking place is part of the enjoyment - most of the time! There is also that exceptional picture that is still out there waiting to be taken.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper, a feisty little butterfly with a good turn of speed. It always reminds me of the Pearl Bordered and Small Pearl Bordered. You think you are following its movement and then a sudden change of direction or speed and its gone.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper

White Admiral

Large Skipper

But I am still missing the Essex Skipper and there doesn't seem to be that many Small Skippers about.

Peacock  - the dark side!

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak, my bogey butterfly. I see lots of them but I just don't seem to be able to get a good open wing shot.

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue  Female

Chalkhill Blue Male

Common Blue

Grayling

Grayling, a good two hours of searching and I was only able to find one butterfly at my usual location. Recent reports have shown better returns lower down the slope in Deep Dean.

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Still  missing a few, Dark Green Fritillary, White Hairstreak, Essex Skipper, Brown Hairstreak and Clouded Yellow. Also a Small Tortoiseshell which I must have seen but have not recorded. Might even get a Long-tailed Blue or perhaps a Camberwell Beauty. Dream on!

Purple Emperor

I paid a visit to the Knepp estate today. I am not sure if I am a fan of the wilding project or not. To start with it is not really wild. It has more footpaths, tracks  and signposts than any area of countryside that I know and I cannot help feeling that it is a manufactured environment to attract wildlife. Still, that is not necessarily a bad thing and they do need to generate an income to support the project they are working on.


In the end I went because it is now the premier site in the country for Purple Emperors. Counts of 140+ and 130 + have been reported there over the past couple of weeks. I had tried a few of my traditional sites for the Emperors but my only sightings were high in the trees with nothing coming down to the ground, so I decided to give Knepp a go.


I didn't see 140 but my count did get into double figures, just, I saw ten. Most were in the tops of the trees with only one coming down and then only for a few seconds.

Purple Emperor

Perhaps more impressive were the numbers of Purple Hairstreaks. Record shots like the one below were easy to come by but what I really wanted was an open wing shot of a male Purple Hairstreak. It has been close to the top of my butterfly wish list for a long time. I didn't get one, despite hours of waiting for them to come down out of the trees, but my thanks to the guy that showed me his perfect picture. I really appreciated that. It even convinced me to waste another hour standing in the hot sun waiting for my chance to come along.

Plenty of other butterflies about particularly if you like Meadow Browns.

White Admiral

Large Skipper

Marbled White

Small Skipper

There were also a number of Silver-washed Fritillary about but they weren't stopping to have their pictures taken.


The free roaming animals often come as a surprise. This piglet following me down the path before disappearing into the undergrowth.

There were also some interesting Dragonflies. My first Southern Hawker of the year. I could have done with a cleaner background but still worth recording.

Southern Hawker

There were also White-legged Damselflies, again my first of the year. I was surprised to see them so far from a river where they are usually seen. However, checking it does appear that they move away from the rivers during the maturation period.

White-legged Damselfly - immature female lactea phase

White-legged Damselfly - male

another immature female

I did have one heart stopping moment. White Stork in the distance but then I realised there were a pair of them in a very well protected compound.

I couldn't find any reference to them on the web. I assume this is part of a re-introduction program but it would be nice to know if it is purely a Knepp initiative or is part of a national program.  If they breed there is a good chance that the chicks will return to nest in the same area once they mature. Look out for nesting platforms going up over the next few years.

Note July26th  -  Statement from the Knepp Estate on their part in a White Stork rewilding project,   (knepp.co.uk/white-storks). It is good to get an understanding of what is happening and an explanation for the White Stork Sightings around the area. Lets hope the project is a great success.

I should also apologise for straying off the public footpaths. My excuse - perhaps not quite enough of the signposting that I commented on above.

Brown Argus

It will be interesting to see what this years Big Butterfly Count comes up with. My own experience is that the butterflies are there, but they are in much lower numbers than I have seen before. Some, such as Tortoiseshells and Commas, have been few and far between this year.

Two weeks ago I was walking through meadows and on chalk hillsides covered in wild flowers and I was having difficulty finding any butterflies. Then in the past week or so, things have started to improve. We had a good emergence of Chalkhill Blues, then, in the last few days, Brimstone, Peacock, Painted Lady, and Red Admirals all in good condition and in good numbers.

One walk along a ride in Houghton Forest really raised my spirits. There were hundreds of these freshly emerged butterflies and even a good number of slightly worn Silver-washed Fritillaries. It was just like old times again.

With this years butterfly season drawing to a close I am just keeping my fingers crossed for a recovery in numbers next year.

Brown Argus - Newtimber Hill

A quick trip back to Newtimber Hill gave me a few good finds. This Brown Argus took a bit of chasing but I eventually got the pictures I wanted.

Brown Argus - Newtimber Hill

It is always easier to get the pictures when the butterflies are otherwise engaged and this pair of mating Silver-spotted Skippers was no exception.

Mating Pair Silver-spotted Skippers - Newtimber Hill

Another unusual sight was this pair of Painted Ladies. I have only ever seen them as singletons before. I assume they are male and female. They were sticking very close together but I did not get any action shots. I also noticed that the top one has an extra white spot in the wing tip. Possibly an aberration.

Painted Ladies  - Newtimber Hill

Peacock   -  nice but it looked much more vivid in real life.

Wall - Newtimber Hill

Brimstone - Houghton Forest

Brimstone  -  Houghton Forest

Another great butterfly. A blue version of the normally brown female of the Common Blue butterfly. You might need to read that twice!

Common Blue Female

Common Blue Female

A walk around Tillets Fields gave us plenty of Purple Hairstreaks but as with my previous visit they stayed mostly in the tops of the trees. Fortunately one did drop out of the skies at our feet. It was a bit tatty but still worth recording.

Purple Hairstreak  - Tillets Fields

Dave also spotted a Brown Haistreak at Tillets but unfortunately it was gone by the time I got there.

Red Admiral  -  Houghton Forest

Red Admiral -  Houghton Forest

Speckled Wood  -  Madgeland Woods

Houghton Forest also had the largest number of Dragonflies that I have seen in one small location. I reckon around 40 in the area where we park the car although they weren't exactly lining up to be counted. They looked like Darters and Hawkers but none were landing to enable a definite identification. We also saw large numbers of Southern Hawkers at Madgeland Woods and these were a bit more obliging.

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

I am missing a few of my usual butterflies this year, White Admiral, Purple Emperor, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, White Hairstreak, plus all the northern species but overall it has been a good year. There is also still a chance of connecting with Brown Hairstreaks and Clouded Yellows before the month is out and maybe even a late Long-tailed Blue so I need to keep looking.