This morning I thought I would take a trip over the border in Surrey to one of the Purple Emperor hotspots at Botany Bay near Dunsfold in Surrey.I have often been in close proximity to a Purple Emperor on this site but the photo has not been on my camera making it six years since I have seen one on the ground, but that certainly changed today.
I decided to stay in the area called "The Triangle" only because I missed one that came down for 20 minutes by moving on in a vain search. I met a great couple of "Birders" who spend the summer months doing the same as me and so it was, when I first saw my quarry go down for lunch on shrimp paste, that had been deposited some days previously, I beckoned them for a nice 10 minutes with "his majesty". By this time the clouds were rolling in and when the butterfly had decided enough was enough he first went into a tree, allowing more shots, before leaving to go into an adjacent tree.Almost instantaneously another male came down on the track about 5 metres away and we had some shaded photos as well. In the area I saw four Purple Emperors and two came down to feed. My six year wait was over and I'm delighted with the outcome,was I lucky?,no, I just hit a purple patch. On the way out of Botany Bay I took a few shots of a pair of mating Ringlets. What a morning,what a day!!! No wonder so many people travels miles on the off chance of this sort of experience. Good luck to the next visitors.
I decided to stay in the area called "The Triangle" only because I missed one that came down for 20 minutes by moving on in a vain search. I met a great couple of "Birders" who spend the summer months doing the same as me and so it was, when I first saw my quarry go down for lunch on shrimp paste, that had been deposited some days previously, I beckoned them for a nice 10 minutes with "his majesty". By this time the clouds were rolling in and when the butterfly had decided enough was enough he first went into a tree, allowing more shots, before leaving to go into an adjacent tree.Almost instantaneously another male came down on the track about 5 metres away and we had some shaded photos as well. In the area I saw four Purple Emperors and two came down to feed. My six year wait was over and I'm delighted with the outcome,was I lucky?,no, I just hit a purple patch. On the way out of Botany Bay I took a few shots of a pair of mating Ringlets. What a morning,what a day!!! No wonder so many people travels miles on the off chance of this sort of experience. Good luck to the next visitors.
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758) - surely worth the six years wait
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758)
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758) -avidly feeding on the shrimp paste Belacan
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758) - flew from feeding into a Hazel tree and smiled for the camera
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758) - is that Belacan off the feet or does it like Hazel?
59.022 - Purple Emperor APATURA iris (Linnaeus, 1758) - This second specimen came down twice to feed but alas the sun never came out so the purple is missing. This butterfly is slightly different to the other one having an additional two white spots near the forewing basal area.
59.009 - Ringlet - APHANTOPUS hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1761) - Mating pair doing what mating pairs do!!
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