The Emperor needs new clothes

I had been told of a place where I might see Purple Emperor butterflies. More usually found further South, they can be hard to see as they live high in the trees but they do come down to the ground to get minerals from soil and even dog poo! Anyway, I just had to get out there to see if I could find one, even though I had only the vaguest idea of what I was looking for. I found all kinds of butterflies, pale ones that flitted around like little ghosts, dark ones that were well camouflaged against the surroundings and bright ones that looked like flying blobs of marmalade. No purple ones at all. Had I come at the wrong time of day? The wrong time of year? I saw a brown butterfly settle on the path just  few yards on front of me - a dingy coloured thing but fairly large and not one that I'd spotted before. It didn't look very inspiring but I watched it for a while. Then the light changed and suddenly the wings shone deep purple. I had found one!
Not the best of my photos of the day as this specimen was looking very ragged and scruffy, but I was so chuffed to have seen one! I think that this Emperor definitely needs a new suit of clothes :-)