Delighted to read that the slightly crippled male first noted in the main territory on Rodborough Common on Sat May 4th managed to find a mate and thoroughly express himself as a male Burgundy (see Simon Primrose's post of May 6th). When he first appeared on Sat 4th he could hardly fly, his wings were too soft. He had probably been unable to expand his wings properly as he emerged on a windy day and probably got buffeted whilst drying his wings, having crawled out from amongst a matted grass tussock, plus or minus moss. Weak individuals are easy prey for the hunting spider Pisuara mirabilis, which is numerous amongst grass litter in Burgundy country and regularly takes mating pairs (favouring the female). But his wings then set hard, enabling him to rampantly fulful himself. Gentlemen, he is an example to us all... . Here he is -
Unfortunately the jet stream has jumped south, ushering in foul and abusive weather. My guess is that about a quarter, or at most a third, of the 2013 adult emergence has come out so far, but the worry is that the remainder, the bulk, may not be able to hold back from emerging indefinitely: they will quickly perish if they fail to hold back and are forced emerge during a sunny hour in a wet week.
Very worrying, and not simply because I'm supposed to be helping BBC NHU to film His Grace as part of a Springwatch special on British butterflies & moths...
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