Southern, Tried Ticking

 Alan Shorrock and I went a twitching today in the hope of catching up with a rare dragonfly visitor which had been seen yesterday at an undisclosed site in the county. The fine male Southern Migrant Hawker was photographed by our county recorder yesterday though work commitments meant that I couldn't go until this afternoon. Sadly the weather was far from cooperative with the forecast sunny spells all but absent leaving a warm but overcast sort of arrangement in its stead.

Silver-washed Fritillary and Ringlet.

On arrival at the location we made our way towards the pond meeting a returning would be ticker. No sightings so far was the unwelcome news coming hot off the press but we carried on nonetheless. Another observer was in situ at the pond and he turned out to be the county recorder from neighbouring Leics and Rutland. His efforts had also failed to produce sightings of the star attraction and that after six hours of waiting. I must admit to a lowering of expectations at this point!

Willow Emeralds.

Despite the increasing likelihood of a dip being on the cards we stayed around for a while and had quite an enjoyable session. our new acquaintance pointed out a freshly emerged Willow Emerald that he had found and while watching it we were treated to further sightings of tenerals. Favouring the same patch of rushes were two male Common Emeralds which showed quite well. Other damsels included a female Small Red-eyed, a few Azures and Common Blues as well as half a dozen Blue-taileds. Few dragons were out in the conditions with an Emperor, a Brown Hawker and a couple of Four-spotted Chasers braving the conditions.

Common Emeralds.

Other wildlife noted on our walk included a fine female Silver-washed Fritillary that Shozzer found and a small selection of  the commoner butterflies. Several Six-spotted Burnets were also on the wing but other than that there was little else to report.

Emerald duo.