barny acheson

I like to laugh, love and grow veg. I like to veg. I like to laugh at veg. Some of my best friends are not veg. I love wildlife. I will even allow it on my veg.

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

This is what Purple Emperor tourism looks like. 51 people watching half a dozen Emperors getting plastered on oak sap on a 'feeder tree' at Knepp today. BUT the season is going over rapidly - they'll burn out fast in the coming heatwave.

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@MatthewOates76 Is it too soon to say if the increased numbers indicate a long-term recovery, or just a short-term blip?

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Rare photo (today's) of a Purple Emperor on a flower, BUT he wasn't feeding on it - had got tanked up on oak sap, flew off upside down and crash-landed on ragwort... He's rather frayed at the edges, but so would you be if you'd been partying like him

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Four Purple Emperors feeding on an oak sap branch at Knepp today. At one point there were 8 feeding along a 3m length of this branch. All told, I saw about 200 probable individuals at Knepp today. This is a truly great Purple Emperor year...

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Memorable evening spent watching Purple Emperors getting tanked up on oak sap and behaving badly. Here's a foursome, but at one point I had 12 in a vista. I probably watched 25-36 in all, in 2 hours. This butterfly should be widespread and locally common...

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Five Purple Emperors (mainly Empresses) feeding on oak sap at Knepp this afternoon. The most I've ever managed to photo together (they get disturbed by Hornets, and each other). This photo took years to get...

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Good to see Purple Hairstreak (in excellent numbers this July) feeding on brambles at Knepp today. They only visit flowers in extreme heat...

[The White Falcon 💙 @Vaasetter]

Fortunate to witness an astonishing spectacle at the beach tonight: tens & tens of thousands of (mainly Small) white butterflies pouring in over the sea, as far as you could see, to the east & west. Pulses of butterflies swept in-off everywhere, an extraordinary sight.
1/2

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Vicious Thug of the Day, 17/6/25. "I've just attacked a low-flying White Stork! What's next?" #NormalforKneppPurpleEmperors

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Just one of a hundred (probable individual) Purple Emperors seen by me today at Knepp, despite the wind - happily feeding on cowpat, as one does when one's an Emperor... Great to share him with 20+ visitors

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Just when I thought the 2025 Knepp Wildland Purple Emperor season couldn't get any better... and I saw a vista of 9 males chasing one hapless female, and a blizzard of 12-14 wanting to visit this oak sap tree...

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@B_Strawbridge I enjoyed watching some at @KneppWilding about this time last year on Marsh Woundwort

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Welcome to the 2025 Purple Emperor season! It could be a cracker. The first male was seen this afternoon at Bookham Commons, Surrey, by an experienced observer (Colin Kemp). And the weather's set fair...

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Starting very soon, probably tomorrow afternoon somewhere in E Hants, W Sussex or Surrey, possibly Oxon or Kent, the 2025 Purple Emperor season - and they could be extremely good this year, & the males even more violent than usual. Don't miss out!

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@MatthewOates76 How high up in the canopy?

[Matthew Oates @MatthewOates76]

Final instar Purple Emperor larvae are so adorably magnificent I almost don't want them to become butterflies... (today's pic).

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@tntsports PLEASE stop spoiling #GirodItalia coverage by trailing highlights programme with the results during the rugby! Love the @premrugby and @giroditalia coverage.

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@DilgerTV Back into Oxfam today, finding Marren's Chasing The Ghost! You continue to inspire. Met you briefly on a BBC Wildlife mag day at Slimbridge.

[barny acheson @barnyach]

@DilgerTV Chanced upon book in Oxfam bookshop. Loved it.
It had me getting lots of other books off shelves including Marren and Fisher.

[barny acheson @barnyach]

I have joined the Xodus, https://t.co/MnZWKfByzU
I will look in on a few I follow, that remain here, at least for now.