"Sue" wrote after...

"Bob Hobden" wrote
The nearest we got was a large "Great Banded Grayling" but that isn't
jet black and the white patches link up which they didn't in the one
we saw. It was the flight that caught my eye first, fast and straight,
land and hang about a bit sunning itself on the compost heap, then
take off and gone, no butterfly type wandering about at all.

Are you still ruling out Purple Emperor? It's said have a distinctive
fast, straight flight and your description does sound very like one with
the purple sheen not catching the light. Good photos he
http://www.ukwildlifeimages.org.uk/P...20Emperor.html

Yes, looked at that as it was suggested at the time, the one we saw was
black, totally black, with the white patches/large spots in a line around
the wings.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK