Saturday 16 July 2016

West Sussex Butterflies

What a contrast from yesterday! In prefect conditions Houghton Forest was full of butterflies: Red Admirals (lots!), White Admiral (only one), Gatekeepers, Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Marbled Whites, Large & Small Skippers, CommasSilver-washed Fritillaries and at the very end of the walk a fly-by Purple Emperor at TQ0016110978. It was a joy to see some action after what has, and will be recorded as I'm sure, a challenging year for butterflies in Sussex & Hampshire.

I then thought I might as well have a look at the Knepp Estate as I haven't been for a while and I duly found it heaving with Purple Hairstreaks but only one rather ragged Purple Emperor which posed for a picture in the tree tops. An added bonus here as I managed not to get horrendously lost this time!

Red Admiral:




Gatekeepers mating:




Large Skippers:




Silver-washed Fritillary:




Marbled Whites:




Comma, rare for me this year!:




Purple Emperor at Knepp: