Sheppey Shines

 Alan Shorrock and I journeyed south with Phil Rogers today into the wilds of Kent or rather the Isle of Sheppey. Our hope was to find some of the Dainty Damselflies which have been present here for over a decade. This species has an interesting past in the UK, a small population in Essex were wiped out by coastal flooding in the early 1950's leading to their extinction. Attempts to reintroduce them failed meaning that it was left to the damsels themselves to take care of the situation. Small numbers appeared on the Isle of Sheppey in 2010 while larger numbers have since been found at several other sites in Kent including Sandwich Bay We chose to try the Sheppey ones because the site is open to the public and getting there is a fairly straight forward business.

Dainty Damselflies and their breeding pond.

We arrived at the site to find the weather was holding out for the time being at least, some sunny periods interspersed with cloudier spells. Our search took us around a series of ponds situated below the new road bridge. Blue-tailed Damselflies were the commonest and indeed the only species for the first hour or so, the brackish nature of the water may have been unsuitable for other species. I noted my first Ruddy Darters and Small Red-eyed Damselfly of the year and some Black-tailed Skimmers while both Phil and Shozzer saw an Emperor. One of the ponds had quite a lot of vegetation emerging from beneath the water seeming to match the preferred habitat choice of Dainty and we settled down to give it a good grilling. A pair of ovipositing blue damsels aroused our curiosity and on closer inspection proved to be Dainty Damselflies, a British first for all of us. Record shots were taken and prolonged views obtained until a rain shower brought things to a close.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Ruddy Darter

There was some other wildlife to enjoy in the general area of which a Cattle Egret seen by Alan was perhaps the highlight. Quite a few butterflies were on the wing too and I added Small Skipper and Large White to my year list. Other species included Common Blue, Small Heath and Meadow Brown as well as a Small Tortoiseshell. The area holds a population of Marsh Frogs which were heard calling and seen once , a Common Lizard was also found. By now the weather was starting to look more threatening and a stop on the way home at Darlands Bank was brief, I saw my first Marbled Whites of the year but that was all I managed before we set off home.

Large White and Small Skipper.