Seeing Red

I took a trip down to Weldon this afternoon, once I'd finished work, where a decent amount of sunshine meant that there were a few interesting insects to enjoy. My primary goal was to see if Small Red-eyed numbers had built up but it looked as if the main emergence has yet to begin. Happily there were at least a few around to admire and one provided a better photographic opportunity than on my previous visit.

Small Red-eyed and White-legged Damselfly.

Dragon numbers were down on my last visit with singles only of Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer. There were a few more damsels of which Common Blue and Red-eyed were the commonest. A few Blue-tailed were also noted while about ten Banded Demoiselles were seen along the stream. Once I'd left the stream behind and walked along to the woodland park I managed to find three immature White-legged Damselflies.

Gatekeeper and Marbled White.

Best butterfly today was Gatekeeper, I saw seven or eight and they were my first of the year. As is often the case in July there were quite a lot of browns about and I saw Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and Ringlets. Two species of skippers were on view and these were Small and Essex with the former being commonest. Apart from a single Small White the only other butterflies on view were a Red Admiral and several Commas.

Small Skipper and Ringlet.

Little else to report though the local Red Kites put on quite a show.

Banded Demoiselle and Comma.