A Shady Experience - 25th June 2026

I went back to Bernwood Forest today in search of more encounters with the majestic Purple Emperors that are now on the wing and will remain so for another six short weeks in the forest. 

As is my custom I parked in the discrete little car park that grants access to Bernwood Meadows well away from the main car park that is forever busy with arriving and departing cars bringing dog walkers and families to walk the main track. Purple Emperors do come down in both the car park and on the main track but it is rare that they remain for long due to the constant human traffic passing back and fore. An extended audience with His Excellency is one that demands due reverence and respect and that is impossible under such circumstances

As usual the postage stamp sized parking space by the meadows, its unsuspected  entrance  concealed by overhanging blackthorn, was deserted and I took to the meadows through a metal gate, entering a world that must have been commonplace to my ancestors but now has retreated to reserves such as this. A living reminder of what we have lost. I stood as I always do to assimilate this blissful panorama of wild flowers for as far as my eyes could see, the whole area bordered by the dark green of blackthorn and beyond the oaks of the forest

And not just flowers but butterflies too were here in their hundreds, Marbled Whites mainly, in endless motion, their chequered black and white wings flickering through the flowers and grass.At one point I was enveloped by a cloud of butterflies rising from the grass as I passed by, an almost unique experience these days as our butterflies become ever more scarce, declining for reasons both natural and un natural.

A gentle breeze blew from the east, already  warm but for now making the morning bearable but it was going to be very hot later, uncomfortably so. My plan was to walk round the meadow and via another gate that gives access to my favourite ride at.the edge of the forest, stand there in the shade of the oaks and out of the worst of the sun. 

I stood and waited but there was no sign of an Emperor. Hardly surprising as it is never that easy with his capricious personality. No matter, it was hardly unpleasant standing in the cool shade of the oaks as Silver washed Fritillarys came bustling, one by one, along the ride, occasionally stopping to refuel on  bramble flowers.Tiny ginger skippers zipped around almost at ground level and countless Meadow Browns and Ringlets dithered in the grass.

A morning so alive with abundant life it was sheer bliss to be amongst it.

But the star turn was now required to make the morning complete. Where was he? Would he turn up?You never know but here on this ride in this forest provided as good a chance as any of encountering him.

Matthew Oates who probably knows more about Purple Emperors than anyone is of the opinion that it is only fresh males, one to four-4 days old, that come down to feed and after the coming weekend they will retreat to feed on sap runs in the trees.I remained optimistic as today was only Thursday.

Ten minutes later at 11am I found an Emperor on the ground feeding. Most royalty in our human existence, if you look underneath the curtain of pomp and circumstance seem to have dark unsavoury secrets and butterfly royalty is no exception. The Emperor was astride that which issues from the wrong end of a dog, tucking in with gusto to the minerals contained in the excresence. Such a paradox

No photo then and he remained in wrapt concentration sucking up minerals through his lemon yellow proboscis.

I waited, admiring his underwing patterning and trying to blot out that on which he was firmly ensconced. Eventually, disturbed by a bothersome fly, in irritation he flew but no more than inches from the ground, circling the sun baked bare earth before rising and settling, less than four feet above the ground on a shaded blackthorn leaf by the ride.

He appeared to shut down, sliding his upperwings under his lower wings, partially concealing the conspicuous eye on the upperwing.I looked at my phone, it was 1120 and the temperature was 29c. I withstood the heat for only a few more minutes and then had to seek the sanctuary of the shade as had  the Emperor. I stood on one side of the ride and he dozed on the other. Both of us sharing very different worlds

I resolved to wait and fifteen minutes later he stirred and began to wander on his leaf, extending his yellow proboscis and showing renewed interest in his surroundings. 

Then as he became more active, slowly opened his wings to reveal that celebrated purplish blue iridescence  and then just as abruptly closed them as if  bringing a shutter down. It is so hard to describe the iridescence that transforms their wings. Matthew Oates states .... 'depending on the angle of view and the angle of the light, a single flick of his wings can take the observer through a spectrum from dense black through Tyrian purple, royal blue and several hues of turquoise and back'.....

He flexed his wings again and this time spread them further, spanning them flat across the leaf in its dappled shade and there, revealed  was the coveted double purple iridescence on both wings. The ultimate gift to all Emperor afficionados

His yellow proboscis continued its exploration of the leaf, then with a flick of wings he descended to the ground, describing a brief circle before settling and striding across the hard earth for more of his unsavoury food source.

Another feeding session commenced but not so long as the first, before he flew up to perch on another blackthorn leaf, this time on the opposite side of the ride and again deep in shade.

And here he remained for quite some time before flying down towards the ground but although showing interest in his previous food source, only circled it low over the ground and then ascended into a nearby oak and that was the audience done and dusted..

It was five minutes past noon and the sun's heat now in the mid thirties was ferocious.I retreated to the interior of the forest where the shade and a relative coolness brought some relief.