The Heath Fritillary

After finishing work today, I thought I would take a look at Westbere Lakes to see if any Norfolk Hawkers were on the wing yet. It had rained heavily throughout the day but the sun had come out now and despite being a little cloudy, it felt very warm. At the entrance I soon found 2 male Scarce Chaser along with lots of Variable, Azure and Blue tailed Damselfly. Moving on to the dykes where the Norfolk Hawkers appeared last year, I spent about 30 minutes checking carefully but despite a good search, I failed to find any. I think if they had been there, I'm sure I would have seen one. Maybe the next couple of days nice weather will tempt them to emerge. As I looked I received a tweet to say that a Norfolk Hawker had been found at nearby East Blean Woods. This is the second year running they have been seen here and begs the question that there is probably a small colony nearby, maybe Chislet Marshes. I decided to drive over to here and as its only a 5 minute drive from home, it was on the way. I arrived to a mixture of sunshine and cloud and made my way to the area concerned. I spent a good time searching to no avail but hopefully a look over the weekend will turn it up here. All was not lost as I was treated to my namesake of the butterfly world, the nationally rare Heath Fritillary. With only a few sites in the country, we are blessed to have probably the best colony here in Kent and a look around produced c30 flying and resting. With the sun in and out and the temperature dropping, this made it a bit easier for me and I was able to take a number of pleasing shots of this attractive butterfly, the underwing is just stunning. With a Broad bodied Chaser, 1 Hairy Dragonfly and a few Common Blue Damselfly noted, it ended up being a productive session. Hopefully out over the weekend where I hope to maybe find a Norfolk Hawker or a few more species which have just emerged. 

Heath Fritillary