Bucknell's Purple patch

On Thursday evening (18/07) again had a quick stroll in Bucknell after work. Again managed to find another freshly emerged Purple Hairstreak stumbling about, as well as an apparent increase in Commas as well.

Yesterday (19/07) I had the day off work so before heading for London for the day, Em and I went for a stroll in Bucknell again. Was hopeful of finding an Emperor with them being generally more active mid-morning. Just 5 minutes along the main track, there it was my first Purple Emperor butterfly!! Yes! It flew around in front of us before finally landing on the path. It sat there for a bit before moving to a nettle. I then played roulette with the nettle and got it to wander onto my hand where we had it for about 5 minutes before it shot off into the canopy. It was all the more sweeter as they are far from numerous in Bucknell and to actually have it on my hand was just amazing. Something I'll never forget!

After the enjoyment of finding the Emperor we moved along a little further along the path. Soon I managed to find another target, with 2-3 Silver-Washed Fritillaries flying about around several large patched of brambles. Was very chuffed and after grabbing a couple of photos, we headed off after a really great half hour!