Magical Marks Hall
Eight years ago I became part of a group dedicated to the recolonisation of butterflies in the Marks Hall Woodland complex. The first success was with the Silver washed Fritillary which was first reintroduced about ten years ago. The numbers of paphia have grown year on year and now it can almost be guaranteed in all suitable habitat around the wood. The Purple Emperor was the next target species to introduce do we started to rear and release A.iris adults about 9 years ago. After 4 years of introduction it was decided to wait and see if any home bred individuals would be seen. We were not disappointed. The number of Purple Emperor sightings has consistently been into double figures every year. This year iris was seen earlier than ever and after one week over 3 males and a female had already been seen.
Having never actually seen A.iris at Marks Hall other than when actually releasing them I decided to make the trip today. I met with Jonathan Jukes at the visitors Centre and after a quick walk over the proposed Dingy Skipper release site, we headed for the wood store where an iris had been seen recently. No luck. We did see an ovipositing comma and a make silver washed Fritillary. After twenty minutes we gave up and headed for the keeper's cottage; another popular spot for A.iris. A fleeting glimpse of a large nymphalid was later decided to have been a purple Emperor but after another half an hour, we moved on again. This time we headed for a damp ride. Recent hot, dry weather meant fewer places for emperors to feed so we worked out way through the woods observing good numbers of silver washed Fritillary and a single white admiral. Eventually we came across the flooded scrape which Jonathan was guiding us to and immediately I spotted a male purple Emperor drinking from the surrounding wet mud. Bingo! My first wild iris at Marks Hall.
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