White-legs

 Family commitments meant that my time today was limited but Shozzer and I managed to spend a few hours out in the field looking for White-legged Damselflies this morning. We began at Harringworth before moving on to Gretton Weir where despite the strong breeze and often cloudy conditions we struck lucky.

Meadow Brown and White-legged Damselfly

Harringworth did not produce much of note and it was a calling Cuckoo and a Kingfisher that provided most of the entertainment. After an hour we threw the towel in and moved on to Gretton Weir where we took a stroll through the riverside hay meadows. Meadow Browns are on the increase and we saw quite a few on our travels, a single Small Heath was recorded too. I found two White-legged Damsels, my first of the year, and both of us managed to get some shots of them. Other damsels in the same area included Large Red, Azure, Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselle.

Banded Demoiselle and large Red Damselfly

Next and final stop was at Deenethorpe where we managed to find more White-legs sheltering in the grass. It looks as if Scarlet Tiger Moths had just hatched in numbers as Alan and I saw about half a dozen. New for the year was a Large Skipper  which I found on the opposite side of the road at Deene Lake and which like a Four-spotted Chaser was hunkering down in vegetation. Common Blue Damselflies were also added to the list before time pressures brought things to a close and after a pint in the Samuel Lloyd I headed home.

Scarlet Tiger and Large Skipper