Emperors

First day of a long weekend and I went along to Harry's Park Wood were the weather defied the pessimistic predictions and turned out to be hot and sunny. Given that I was hoping to catch up with one of Northamptonshire's biggest wildlife draws it was perhaps just as well.

Purple Emperor.

My search for Purple Emperors took me through the wood and part of the way back again before I found one. A male was taking in salts from the path and I had good and prolonged views though the heat meant that it kept its wings closed for most of the time. When it did move on it landed on the customary pile of dung though I resisted the urge to grab a shot of this as I've probably posted enough pictures in the history of this blog that could be called a pile of @#*%! Another emperor was noted briefly but it wasn't hanging around.

White Admiral and Comma.

Plenty of other butterflies were on the wing with at least half a dozen White Admirals looking as classy as ever and at least two were also taking salts from the path. The only Silver-washed Fritillary noted did not land and sped past just before I left. Purple Emperors are known for their disgusting dietary preferences but they don't have the monopoly on poop licking, both Small and Green-veined Whites were drawn to some very fresh horse dung. White numbers have increased a lot during the week and as well as these two I also saw some Large too. Some other species were attracted to the path and these were Comma, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell. Rounding off today's butt' list were Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Large Skipper.

Dung liking whites and Red Admiral.

The Purples were not the only emperors on view today as four or five of the dragonfly version were hunting along the rides. It seemed as if the heat was getting to them though as at least three perched up in a shady spot giving me the chance for some pics. Other odes observed in the wood were Brown Hawker and Common Blue Damselflies.

A couple of shady characters, Emperors escaping the heat.

For my second visit in a row I was lucky enough to record Crossbills in the wood as a party of eight or nine were found. It looks as if there's an irruption of this species in progress as there have been quite a few records in the county during the past week.

Young Swallow.