Butterflies were hard to find when I arrived in the cool , breezy conditions , but when the sun came out , the wind dropped and things got much better . By the time I left the site , I had recorded 15 species - Common Blue (104) , Meadow Brown (24) , Red Admiral (1) Small
Copper - pictured (1) , Marbled White (1) , Brimstone (9) , Small White (5) , Speckled Wood (6) , 
Gatekeeper (10) , Brown Argus - male pictured , an impressive (23) , Small Heath (4) , Large 
White (4) , Green-veined White (1) , Peacock (2) and Holly Blue - pictured (1) .With fencing contractors on site , no chance of Fox or Roe Deer today .
Found on a conifer stump , Hypholoma capnoides , a relation of Sulphur Tuft .
Yesterday I posted the Robber Fly mating , today it was lunch time .As the blue skies continued , I called in at the Farm lake on the way home . My concerns re. the Little Grebe were well founded , as once again , just a single adult was seen , and a probable cause , a Grey Heron flew off as I arrived . Within minutes , the air was filled with calls from about 30/40 House Martins , hawking insects and taking a drink on the wing , before heading off
South . 7 species of butterfly were recorded here , with another species for the day , Comma .A series of calls from over the woods , the other side of the lake , resulted in at least 2 Hobbies , I
couldn't be sure of the third bird . I had several single sighting during the visit , but no more multiple ones .Odonata did better than on the last few visits , with 8 species being recorded . The Black-tailed Skimmers ate getting very over mature now , but still mating and egg laying . Two male Emperor Dragonflies are sharing the lake . This one kept returning to the same Bullrush every
now and again , giving an opportunity to get an approach shot , 
before settling for a minute or so , before charging off again .
3 Brown Hawkers were recorded , 1 male and 2 female , this female egg laying in the vegetation at the edge of the lake .Numbers of Common Darters are still very low , although several pairs were seen egg laying in
tandem today . 4 male Ruddy Darters ( all black legs , no yellow stripes on thorax ) , one pictured were also recorded . Also recorded were Common Blue , Blue-tailed and Small Red-eyed Damselfly .
2 comments:
I've seen a few more Darters of late Greenie. They seem to very small, and are yellow / orange coloured - do they shrink as they get older !
Warren ,
The female Ruddy Darters are yellow/orange and the species is smaller than the Common .
All black legs and no yellow stripe on side of thorax for the ID .
In answer to your question , I don't know about Odonata , but other things do !
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