A celebration of birding and natural history, generally within a 10 mile radius of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK.
It would be great if you wanted to share your Ely 10 birding news, experiences, photos, art and video through this blog. Please contact hairyfolkster@gmail.com with your post or to join the authorship, I'll get you on the list quicker than a fly over Alpine Swift.
After a decade or so of local searches, I found a breeding site for Lesser Emperor just a stone's throw or five from my front door, The site at Ben's Yard Reservoir, hasn't been accesible for very long but from late June onwards the site has been excellent for these recent colonists from the continent. As I have understood a little more of the habits and behaviour of these great dragonflies, I have been hoping to find a confiding individual that didn't immediately fly off or wasn't completely battered and wing damaged. This one was almost that - certainly a vast improvement on previous efforts. As I watched the Emperor it dawned on me that I must have been close to a Reed Warblers nest, the birds coming very close, warily as I clicked away. I did move away swiftly once I realised I was causing a problem for the birds, and they got on with their feeding once I'd stepped back a few paces.
On the walk back, one of several Emperors, themselves still expanding their distribution northwards and further into Scotland, lingered on a stem. This reminded me of a drive in the Camargue a few years ago where I had to stop within a cloud of Lesser Emperors disturbed from their roadside rest upon reeds and bushes in a damp, woodland meadow.
Not in Stuntney - this Lesser Emperor was in The Camargue
It's that long-awaited time of the summer, the hour upon us to head to the woods, a forest or for us folk in the flatlands, a fen. Iris is on the wing, His Imperial Majesty flies.
At Woodwalton Fen there's no less flight action than at other sites but attention quickly becomes focused upon the high frequency of alighted indivduals of this beautiful butterfly. There are many more opportunities to view grounded Purple Emperors at Woodwalton than at almost any other site, as they habitually visit the thatch, window frames and weatherboard of Rothschild's bungalow throughout most mornings. The bungalow is a historically significant building in it's own right, the original HQ of the British conservation movement, fostered by Charles Rothschild through the late Victorian age and through to the 1920's. Nestled within a verdant, natural ampitheatre and set beneath a couple of regal oaks, this beguiling building , an oversized summer house on stilts, offers all comers the assurance of a special view of an Emperor, a grounded individual, vertical and at eye level. A mid-morning visit on a sunny, still day during the first weeks of the flight period will guarantee a view - often several Emperors frequenting the bungalow at any one time - and keep an eye upwards as more will be glimpsed gliding over the oaks and nearby sallow forest.
I have accumulated quite a library of digiscoped video of Emperors at Woodwalton, recorded over the past 3 years simply by placing my ancient smartphone lens and telescope eyepiece in alignment. I've not been sure what to do with the clips - as they became increasingly focused on the detail, zooming in closer and closer, as the hours of joyous observation drifted by. For fear of leaving them sitting on a hard drive, all wrapped up neatly in their zeroes and ones, I've done a bit of a dump and edit and made a DIY compilation, a punkish production, on video - in modern metaphor a hybrid love letter/mixtape/visual sonnet to a favourite butterfly. Some, of the Purple Persuasion, might appreciate the dreaminess and abstraction of the slow-motion and close ups, a different view of iris, this butterfly that evokes obsession - on the other hand others might not like the arty approach one little bit. Horse/Courses.
While at Woodwalton this week there was plenty to look at aside between time with the Emperors - from the lilting heads of the living museum specimen plants, Fen Ragwort, to the vibrant Scarlet Tigers that seem to be everywhere this year, throwing themselves into a colourful flurry of wings as they bumble over and through the vegetation.
Emperors have also been on the wing in Ditton Park Wood, where generally they stick to parachuting around the treetops in sweeping glides. Also here were fresh Ringlets, a beguiling and pristine scissor-cut Comma and a couple of tangarine-coloured Silver-washed Fritillaries.
