Insects Day Part 2 - White Faced Darter

The afternoon saw us at Foulshaw and Meathop Mosses.
As we walked across the boardwalk at Foulshaw the first Black Darter appeared.

Earlier in the day we had had Common Hawker at Howe Ridding Wood, but now we were really racking up the species. Common Darter, Emperor, Black Tailed Skimmer and 5 species of Damselfly were soon added. The Emerald Damselfly really showed off including this pair...

We also saw 5 Common Lizard, with one just about hanging about for a photo...

Then Simon told me to stand still, a Darter on the boardwalk. I glanced down to my feet and there was the target dragon - a female White Faced Darter! Wonderful!

The Osprey's were very noisy, with one of the adults bringing a very large fish in at one point. Peregrine was seen towards the crags, and a Hobby shot through low across the Moss.
The final stop was Meathop Moss. Would our final target insect of the day show itself? Yes. Several Large Heath butterflies were present, although not resting long enough for a picture. The most memorable insect here though were half a dozen Oak Eggar moths - very large distinctive day flying moths. Finally, as we walked back to the car, a Tree Pipit called loudly, alerting us to it's presence.
Always good to see the hills in the distance 😊

Overall then, a great day. 20 species of Butterfly and 12 species of Odonata.

Silver Washed Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
Northern Brown Argus
Large Heath
Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Red Admiral
Peacock
Small Tortoiseshell
Brimstone
Common Blue
Comma
Speckled Wood

White Faced Darter
Black Darter
Common Darter
Common Hawker
Brown Hawker
Emperor
Black Tailed Skimmer
Azure Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Blue Tailed Damselfly
Emerald Damselfly
Large Red Damselfly

Insects Day part 1 - Silver Washed Fritillary

A cracking day in South Cumbria looking for Butterflies and Dragonflies.
First stop was Howe Ridding Wood near Witherslack. Marsh Tits seemed everywhere on the walk through the trees to the reserve.

A female Pied Flycatcher showed briefly as well as GS Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, and Raven overhead.
On entering Howe Ridding Wood after a short climb, we started to walk through promising clearings.
Comma, Ringlet and Meadow Brown seemed to be everywhere...

Then the first Fritillaries appeared. Dark Green Fritillaries showed off well (both male and female), and a single High Brown Fritillary showed off its underwing to the binoculars but not the camera.

Several Common Blue appeared and then a small brown blue with no blue tinging to the upper wing. It sat with wing closed, crawling deep into the undergrowth. Just enough time to get the underwing pattern - Northern Brown Argus.
Frustratingly though, the Fritillary that would be a new butterfly tick didn't appear - however two 'larger' ones flew over fast but didn't stop.  We headed over to nearby Brigsteer Wood next to see if our luck would change.
As we approached the first clearing along the path from Cotes I said to Simon this looks good... and then - boom - a massive female Silver Washed Fritillary flew past and landed showing really well 😊

A few hundred metres further on, two more 'large' Fritillaries appeared - male Silver Washed Fritillary. Wonderful to watch! A Dark Green Fritillary flew through as well and it was noticeable how much larger the Silver Washed Fritillary were.

A great start to the day. Now it was time for the Dragonflies...