Rewards of the dragon's den

The hot sunny weather provided an excellent day's dragonfly spotting at Tophill Low. A count by Doug Fairweather and myself over the site recorded:- 40 Large Red Damselfly, 41 Common Blue Damselfly, 855 Azure Damselfly, 23 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 18 Red-eyed Damselfly, 30 Four-spotted Chaser, 8 Broad-bodied Chaser and 3 Hairy Dragonfly.

Here are the best pictures...

Broad-bodied Chaser





Large Red Damselfly in tandem



Red-eyed Damselfly



The best of the moth traps included a Flame Carpet, a few Poplar Hawkmoths, Sandy Carpet, Spectacle and Pebble Prominent.

Sandy Carpet



Pebble Prominent



Spectacle



The butterflies in number were disappointing given the weather but, in no order, we managed 9 Green-veined White, 4 Orange Tip, 6 Peacock, 8 Speckled Wood, 2 Comma, 4 Small White, 4 Small Copper, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Holly Blue, 2 Wall, 1 Common Blue and 1 Large White.