Sunday 12th. July 2015

A cool breeze was blowing as I started along the top path at Old Lodge Reserve on Ashdown Forest , and an lack of any bird calls was disappointing , to say the least . By the time I reached the far end of the path and started downhill , only Coal Tit and Chiffchaff had been heard and nothing seen . That changed dramatically with the 'churring' of a Nightjar ( approx. 0830 ) , coming from the horse fields behind the large house . Though the 'churring' continued spasmodically , I didn't get a sighting . Added to that , a couple of Spotted Flycatchers showed briefly high in the canopy . With the 'churring stopping , I made my way back up to the small ponds to search for Odonata , and although nothing was flying on the first one , a female Emperor Dragonfly was found having recently emerged  and

having pumped up her wings , was now in the process of pumping up her abdomen . Unfortunately , the only clear shot was looking directly into the sun and over water , not the best option . On another

pond , Small Red Damselfly were found , some having recently emerged like this female form

intermedia , but also more mature specimens like this male with his red legs showing well . It was whilst I was photographing this individual that two birders walked past questioning ' You didn't se that did you ?' .' See what' ? I replied . 'That Nightjar that flew directly over your head' was their reply . You can't be looking everywhere I suppose . Some compensation for that miss was finding an

immature male Scarce Emerald Damselfly , as can be seen the eyes have not yet turned blue as in a

mature male . Two more female Emperor Dragonflies were found , one busy ovipositing , whilst the

other was trying to settle , but being harassed by males of other species and moved on , not wanting her to oviposit on their patch . On the way down to the stream , a few Heath Spotted-orchid were

found amongst the Heather and Gorse , including a single almost white specimen . The stream in the valley was devoid of Odonata on my arrival , even though it was more sheltered . I searched the banks for ages , hoped for a perched Golden-ringed Dragonfly , but only finding a male Emperor for my time . I returned to the top ponds adding Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chaser , Large Red , Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies , but no sign of the hoped for Black Darter . I returned to the stream and after another long wait , did get fly-bys of Golden-ringed Dragonfly and a male Keeled Skimmer , but both were in view for just a matter of seconds before disappearing . Before

starting my return to the car park , I did find one of the larger Hoverflies , Volucella Bombylans . That return was uneventful apart from finding a female Keeled Skimmer which I followed for ages

before settling on a very un-photographic background , but beggars can't be choosers . Amazingly , the most numerous species found was Large Skipper butterflies , they were everywhere . From Old Lodge I drove to a couple of nearby ponds , an area where I have found the Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly in the past , but like last year , I didn't find a single specimen , I think they have been lost from the site  now . Whilst searching , Common Sundew / Drosera rotundifolia were found in good

numbers , some just starting to come into flower . Heading back to the ponds , I spent some time trying to get some shots of a male Emperor in flight . I took loads of shots , the majority ending up in

the bin , but the odd one or two of this extremely difficult to get in the viewfinder in flight dragonfly I thought were reasonable . I probably would have tried for longer , but a couple parked up , letting two Spaniels out from the back of the car . They walked right past me , then encouraged the two dogs into the pond within metres of where I was standing . I packed up and thanked them for consideration , to which their reply was 'What?' .
An email from fellow enthusiast Keith  that his Dad had found a white Pyramidal Orchid near Chelsfield , had me making contact , and the next day visiting the site with Stan . Chancing the

forecast rain , we headed along the footpath and I was soon getting a few shots of this rare form of the orchid . A big thanks to Keith and Stan for letting me in on it . That afternoon , another visit to High Elms , now with the visit from Kent Butterfly Conservation in mind . Silver-washed Fritillaries still showing well , but no females seen yet , but still no sighting of White Admiral and still no positive sighting of White-letter Hairstreak , but in the bottom glade , the Hemp Agrimony and Canadian Golden Rod , the favoured nectaring flowers of the WLH are just opening , so hopefully they will come down soon . On the way home along Shire Lane I sadly watched helplessly as a female Mallard lost two of her ducklings as they crossed the road in front of me . They had cleared my side and were about to mount the kerb and back beyond , when two cars came around the corner towards them . The female flew up the bank , but the four ducklings tried to outrun the cars , but the first car flattened the back two and the second car went over but didn't hit the other two . With the female calling desperately from the top of the bank , the two survivors were struggling to get up the kerb and bank to her . I parked up with hazards flashing , and with thoughtful drivers approaching managed to get the two ducklings up the bank . There was nothing I could do for their two pancaked siblings .
A visit to the area below Biggin Hill Airport in hope of Chalkhill Blue was unsuccessful , but 37

Marbled White , including a mating pair were recorded , as was my first Gatekeeper of the year . That was followed by helping with the Down House butterfly transect which turned out to be very average

apart from 4 Dark Green Fritillary . The highlight was back in the walled garden , where we found a Hummingbird-hawk Moth nectaring on Vipers Bugloss . With the good weather holding , in the afternoon I did the High Elms butterfly transect . 16 species were recorded , the only notable entries

were 43 Marbled White and 16 Silver-washed Fritillary , which included 3 females , this one seemingly already having received the attention of a male .
A visit to Cliffe Pools with fellow enthusiast Keith in the hope of repeating last year's findings of 3 Emerald Damselfly species started well with a bit of birding on the way to the site producing several Avocet including a very young chick with one pair , 10+ Greenshank and a couple of summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit along with lots of Gulls and Tufted Duck . Surprisingly , during the whole visit to this 'big sky' site , not a single Swift or hirondine was seen , and raptors only just managed a mention with a single Kestrel and Marsh Harrier . The two ditches that we visited last year and got Emerald , Scarce Emerald and Southern Emerald Damselfly proved to be almost devoid of any Odonata at all . That together with a strong breeze blowing over the site , made it a very

disappointing visit . Ruddy Darters were all over the Bramble bushes , some in tandem , but non were seen ovipositing . Black-tailed Skimmers mainly along the track and just 4 Emeralds , of some species ,  the wind made it impossible to get a good look at them on the far side of the ditch , was all

that was found in four hours searching . A good number of Gatekeeper , 10+ of Red Admiral and Peacock , lots of Small Skipper , and more Essex Skipper than I have seen for ages , not surprising as

we could see Essex across the Thames !! Only other interest found was this White Satin moth , I think , which had emerged from it's cocoon but something went wrong and it didn't fly off . Since

happening , something else had laid it's eggs on the carcass , providing food when their offspring hatched .
Yesterday I made a morning visit to High Elms , again with the Kent BC visit in mind . It was good to see plenty of Silver-washed Fritillaries around , but still no White-letter Hairstreaks , one of the hoped for species on the visit , showing in the bottom glade . I was just about to move on to Burnt

Gorse , when a pristine male Purple Emperor dropped onto the path a couple of metres away and started looking for minerals . It was very twitchy , hopping back and forth along the narrow path . I was alone with him for about 3/4 minutes before a dog walker marched through and spooked him . I stayed in the glade hoping he might return . He didn't , but , his mate did . A second male , definitely not pristine , did a couple of laps of the glade , before landing on the path . This individual showed

combat damage to the hindwings , no doubt inflicted around the master tree by another male . A shame , but I wasn't arguing , two male PE within half an hour , I've only had one other sighting in over 20 years of watching on the site . By now the dog walking traffic was really busy , and when six came through together , that was it , he was off too . When I got home I rang fellow enthusiast Keith with the news , and he went after lunch , and had two sightings during his time there , but no groundings . In a short brighter spell this morning , I visited again , but what sun there was , was very watery , but no sign today . Would be nice if they turn up for next Sunday's walk , but we would need better weather than today , that's for sure .