Page 9 - Out Birding Winter 2023

away and hidden - never mind - even more reason to return to this magical site.
We were all looking up frequently to spot the Stork nests in the trees and to look for the taller oak trees that were the likely roosts for the Purple Emperors and Purple Hairstreaks. It certainly felt a rare, special and unusual sight to see the large deep stacks of twigs and branches making up the stork nest platforms with 2-3 well grown White Stork chicks standing like pterodactyls crowded on each of the nests - how they don’t fall out I don’t know. There were adult Stork souring majestically in the sky and it was a sight to watch one land none too gracefully on the edge of the nest and bill- clattering its partner. For those of us living near Knepp it no longer feels unusual to see these magnificent birds so it was lovely to see the enthusiasm of members of the group who had not seen them before.
Swallows were catching insects above the barns and there were also sightings of a few Swifts and House Martins. Sparrow colonies fussed and chirped around the barns while Pied Wagtails bobbed on the roofs and a juvenile Robin perched quietly in the hawthorn. On the side of a barn, log wall has been designed to attract both Solitary and Mining Bees and we spent an enjoyable few minutes watching them popping in and out of their holes.
As we crossed the stream there were Banded and Beautiful Demoiselles fluttering fast and giving such a visual treat with their iridescent blue/green wings and bodies. Then it was a delight to see a Song Thrush in an adjacent meadow and a few moments later a Mistle Thrush was seen in fight.
As the morning wore on the rumbles of thunder and darkening skies warned us that rain was imminent. We plodded on through the drizzle but were entering the area with the tallest oak trees where the Purple Emperors were most likely to be seen - but not in the rain!. An intrepid photographer pointed out a Purple Hairstreak sheltering on the underside of an oak branch and meanwhile two of the group, wandering into a wooded glade by the path, watched a Treecreeper doing its characteristic spiral creep up the trunk and higher branches - ever upwards till it ran out of tree and flew down to start near the bottom of the next trunk.
Carol decided it was best to stop for lunch which was under the shelter of trees and a little damp - we avoided the really tall trees because of the thunder and lightning.
As predicted the rain cleared in the early afternoon and Carol led us to the greenway walk for the best chance of seeing our Purple Emperors. At last the sun came out and we were treated to views of the slow wing beats of this largest British butterfly. At least a dozen were seen but they could not be enticed down to feed on the banana that Carol had sacrificed from her lunch - the males seeming more driven to use the fleeting sunshine to pursue the females. Amongst them were some smaller Purple Hairstreaks with their different wing movements and more frenetic flight.
An additional excitement was coming across some Tamworth piglets, the size of Corgi 9