Fermyn Woods Butterfly Walk

Another trip over towards the Rockingham Forest area of the County We are close to Fermyn Woods again this time in Harry's Park Wood, just off the Brigstock bypass and along Old Dry Lane (North). There is some logging work going on which isn't great news. The slightest disturbance can have an effect on Butterfly appearances. Today we are looking for the elusive 'Purple Emperor'. One of Northamptonshire’s most magnificent butterflies, and each year they draw a lot of visitors to the area. I am in the company of Martin Swannell, a friend and also an expert in all things Butterfly and Bird life. He has been a founder member of many bird and wildlife Groups in Northamptonshire. He has brought his camera and telescopic lens along today. All the good photos on this post will will have been taken by Martin. You will see his name on his photos if you look closely at the bottom. The beautiful 'Speckled Wood' pictured left is one of mine.

 

Unfortunately the temperature has dropped a little since the recent heatwave.  There is cloud cover too which won't help our search. The males  tend to emerge slightly before the females and can spend lengthy periods of time on the ground extracting minerals from the woodland tracks. Once the females emerge their attention turns to mating and they spend a lot more time flying around the canopies. There are though lots of other Butterflies to be seen including Meadow Browns, Skippers, Gatekeepers and Ringlets. We take some side paths through the grass which is lovely but unlikely to reveal any Emperors. There are many Emperor Dragonflies though which is the nearest we shall get today sadly. 

Holly Blue

Gatekeeper (left) and Ringlet

We traced our way back along the original path where even the well trodden horse manure had not tempted the Emperors down. There is a very nice Whitethroat balancing on a grass. We moved on to the visitor Centre at Fermyn Woods over the bridge near to Brigstock. We made our way through the old quarry. It would have been a stronghold a couple of months ago for Hairstreaks. We did see a couple of Siverwash Fritillaries  though which were very impressive. They didn't settle though and therefore no photos.A most relaxing morning was spent again at Fermyn.