THE KING OF BUTTERFLIES

MY HUSBAND TIM had been expecting the call since the beginning of July last summer so he was prepared to act fast when it came. A friend in the know told him a hatch of urple Emperor butter ies had been spotted in Fermyn Woods to the south east of Corby and, as it was a sunny day, we should get along there right away. Butter ies love the sunshine.

The Purple Emperor (or Apatura iris) is rare; numbers declined during the twentieth century and now they are only seen in deciduous woodland in central and southern England. And to make it harder to spot them, they tend to congregate in the treetops with the males only ying down occasionally to the ground to probe for salts, often from animal dung. ermyn Woods covers a huge area so this little jaunt was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. But we were up for the challenge, as was our friend Ja who is also very interested in spotting butter ies and birds. With her artistic eye for noticing patterns and Tim’s birdwatching e pertise in catching movement in the trees we thought we were in with a chance.

We chose a bridleway cutting through a dense copse of old oak trees. Armed with binoculars, the three of us trained them high up in the canopy and scanned for signs of life. Tim noticed some of the leaves had been eaten, was that a sign the Emperor was there With stunning purple wings and white bands the male would be easy to identify if we saw it; the female, as is often the case in the natural world, is not as magnificent, being a deep brown. atience is not one of my strong points but you certainly have to develop it when acclimatising to and blending in with the landscape. t was easy to be distracted by the abundance of wild owers and grasses growing all around us, some that would have missed if ’d been marching along on a dog walk. And masses of noisy dragon ies were keeping us company too. We saw plenty of little brown jobs’ and under Ja ’s e pert tuition we identified Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and, my favourite, Ringlets with a trio of tiny circles on their wings.

So, did we see a urple Emperor We’re convinced we saw a few good-si ed butter ies itting in and out, high up in one particular ancient oak. But they didn’t settle so we couldn’t be sure. And we had gone fairly late in the afternoon which isn’t necessarily the best time earlier in the day would have been better. We were perhaps na ve to think we’d spot His Majesty’ on our first foray but it’s certainly pi ued our interest. We’ll definitely be trying again.

Afterwards to learn more about butter ies and their habits and habitats, I bought natural history writer Patrick Barkham’s book The Butter y sles. This book charts his search to spot all species native to the British sles in one summer from the Adonis Blue to the Dingy Skipper. It was fascinating, well worth the read.

Think like a butterfly – most seek warm, sheltered, southfacing spots. Purple Emperors prefer the top of the tree canopy. Watch the forecast as many butterflies fly on sunny, calm days, or on overcast days over 20°C. Move slowly as butterflies have good eyesight; watch your shadow doesn’t fall on them. Take binoculars for scanning the canopy, tops of hedgerows and nettle and bramble patches. Also take photos to identify them later. Learn the plants where the caterpillars and adults prefer to feed.