A Shady Experience - 25th June 2026

I returned to Bernwood Forest today in search of another encounter with the majestic Purple Emperors that are now on the wing and will remain so for another five 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 and various side trails through the trees. Purple Emperors do come down from the trees 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 'unimproved' 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, tangible reminder of what we have lost. I stood as I always do to assimilate this joyous 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, inexorably declining for reasons both unavoidable and avoidable.

A gentle breeze blew from the east, already warm and for now the morning was 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. Unsurprising as it is never that easy with such a 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 before resuming their frenetic progress.Tiny, ginger, pugnacious Large Skippers zipped around, almost at ground level and countless Meadow Browns and Ringlets, jinked and 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 and 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 days old, that come down to feed and after that they retreat to feed on sap runs in the trees. I remained optimistic, an essential prerequisite for the task I had set myself.

Ten minutes later at 11am I found an Emperor on the ground, feeding. Most royalty in our human world, if you look underneath the contrived veil of pomp and circumstance seem to have dark and hidden, unsavoury secrets and butterfly royalty is no exception. The Emperor despite all his magnificence and presence 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  as I just could not bring myself to take one as he remained in wrapt concentration sucking up minerals from the unmentionable through his lemon yellow proboscis.

I lingered, admiring his underwing patterning and trying to blot out the image of 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 a couple of times before rising and coming to rest, less than four feet up 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 could withstand 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 see 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'.....

And so it was here. He flexed his wings again and this time slowly 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 towards his unappealing food source.

Another feeding session commenced although not so long as the first, before he flew up to perch low 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 a passing interest in his 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..