Bootiful

My brother was kind enough to give me a lift to the Brampton Valley near Hanging Houghton today where I hoped to add Beautiful Demoiselle to my county year list. With the weather looking decidedly dodgy at one stage it seemed as if my goal was far from being a sure thing though while sunshine was indeed very much in short supply it did brighten up a little. During these brighter spells we were able to find five males and two females though no other damsels were recorded this morning. There were a few more butterflies however and of these Ringlets and Meadow Browns were the commonest with a few Essex and Large Skippers and a few whites for company too.

Female and male Beautiful Demoiselles.

Once we had seen some decent views of the demoiselles we moved on and my brother dropped me off at Gretton Weir before going his own way. Banded Demoiselles were the dominant species here with hundreds being seen. White-legged Damselflies were also present in good numbers and I saw several pairs in cop. One other damsel seen here was Blue-tailed and while they were not as common as the other two species there were still quite a few. A single male Emperor was the sole dragonfly noted here. New butterflies observed here for the day were Green-veined and Large White, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Skipper and Small Heath.

White-legged and Blue-tailed Damselflies.

My walk along the Rockingham road did not produce too much of interest, only a pair of Common Blue damsels in cop were of note. Taking the public footpath up towards Brookfield Plantation added Marbled White and Red Admiral to the day's list while individuals of Banded Demoiselles and White-leggeds proved these species' power of dispersal.

Silver-washed Frit and Gatekeeper.

Brookfield added a little more to enjoy with two male Silver-washed Fritillaries and a similar number of Gatekeepers being the highlight. A female Southern Hawker hunting along the rides was my first since the trip to Yardley last month. I surprised a few Fallow Deer as I made my way through the wood but the encounters were brief and I didn't manage a picture.

Essex Skippers and Ringlets.

Willowbrook Industrial Estate was my final stop of the day where many Marbled Whites and a couple more Gatekeepers were seen as well as a Common Darter. A barking Muntjac was typically noisy while I also had untypically good views of a Common Lizard. Three Peregrines were noted during the day at one of their regular sites suggesting that successful breeding had taken place.

Common Lizard and Peregrine.