On Monday the sun was shining and I suddenly thought – why not go and enjoy it? So I did.
Summer sun means butterflies and I headed to Fermyn Woods to see if it might be third time lucky in looking for purple emperors.
The long line of cars parked by the road on a Monday morning suggested that I wasn’t alone in my quest and that it wasn’t a hopeless one either. As I walked along the line of cars I noted several with National Trust stickers (which give access to NT car parks) and a few Butterfly Conservation stickers too, which made me wonder why the RSPB isn’t asking me to advertise my support for them with a car sticker.
Turning down the track into the forest I could see plenty of people ahead – and some of them were pointing cameras at the mixture of dusty earth and occasional relict puddles of the straight track through the trees. This looked promising. Just as I saw cheetahs in Kenya, and grizzly bears and wolves in the USA through seeing people watching them, it looked as though I would see some butterflies by reaching the people who had already found them.
We looked at this magnificent butterfly for a while. It kept its wings closed for most of the time, but the underwing is very impressive anyway, but then occasionally flicked its wings flat against the path and then closed them again. Those purple upperwings are stunning. What a beast!
My 36 year-old Zeiss 10x40B binoculars don’t focus close enough for butterfly watching so they are a bit useless in these circumstances but the butterflies were very accommodating – as were the butterfly watchers. An old chap told me some of the details about the reintroduction of purple emperors into these woods many years ago and of the loss of chequered skippers from the county.
There were lots of photographs being taken and not just of purple emperors. Several white-letter hairstreaks, a butterfly I have rarely seen , were also visiting the track and allowing men with cameras (all the photographers were men even though the gender ratio was about 2male:1female).
There were also some whites, commas, meadow browns, ringlets and a couple of white admirals too. A regular blog-reader asked me whether i was going to do a blog on my least favourite buttefly.
A successful trip – and so time to celebrate with a pint of beer outside the Snooty Fox pub (which gets a mention in Chapter 8 of Fighting for Birds), except that the Snooty Fox appears to be closed on Monday lunchtimes.
But, having decided that a pint of beer (just the one) was what was needed, preferably supped in a garden from which red kites could be enjoyed, then I had to seek out a suitable replacement alehouse (this is the type of stubbornness which means that NE and Defra should expect the details of Walshaw Moor to be prised out eventually). There were kites everywhere, and a few buzzards, as they were enjoying the sun too. There really was not a single cloud in sight for most of this time.
I drove home and saw a few more red kites and buzzards. I had only been out for just over a couple of hours. this is the life – when the sun shines!
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Really enjoyed this and may try out the pubs some time even if the rain has set in and the butterflies have gone.
Wildlife photography really does seem like a hobby for the boys, but thought you might like to see some butterfly and (mostly) moth photos from a talented female photographer:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amylewislincs/sets/72157624126881725/
(If you can get onto flickr!)
Heather – may thanks and welcome!
Its blogs like this one which makes me compelled to keep visiting. Earlier in the week you’d written a blog on the ‘milk price protests’ every word of which I pretty much agreed, even down to the comparison of farms/agribusinesses with coal mines and ship yards and then here we are a few days later, transported to an English summer and butterflies and beer – its wonderful.
The idea of a butterfly ‘twitch’ doesn’t particularly appeal, but warm sunshine and a village pub certainly does. I’m guessing that a windproof jacket and rug over the knees was not needed.
I’m hoping to make the most of the (reasonably) clement weather here to enjoy the swifts for a few more evenings.
Thanks again for helping us to appreciate the summer when its here.
Hi Mark,what a lovely day you had and it made a great blog even though Butterfly’s do not really fly my kite which I am almost ashamed to say.
Did see in the paper a Pheasant hit a motor cyclist on the helmet causing him to crash and get killed so we should get the government to give £400,000 to see about getting rid of them all.
See Buzzards almost without fail every day which thinking back to hardly ever seeing them in the 70s seems amazing.
The outbreak of sunshine recently has brought out butterflies and Buddleias. I’m cheered to see both. Our common or garden davidiis are vigorous as ever, but the “globosas” are not, “Moonglow” having suffered again from figwort beetle attack, and the yellow not liking the cold and wet which turned the flars into a brown mush. What with the bumble bees, butterflies and constant clicking of flycatcher beaks, I’m not inclined to leave the gaff to go spotting. But an enforced sally up London showed something encouraging – hawthorn hedges around the Wilts/Hants borders have recovered from the devastation of ermine moth attacks of 2009-11 and now look like hedges again. Swings ‘n’ roundabouts. Talking of which, and roadside vegetation, there should be a Law applicable to Audi TT cars forcing them to be manufactured taller than grass.