The Heath and the Hawker!

With the sun shining after work at 4.30pm, I cycled home and called into East Blean Woods which is conveniently on the way. I was hoping to find my first Heath Fritillary butterfly of the year, one of our rarest butterflies in the UK. On arrival I could see Chris Tedder in the car park scanning and I hoped that she may have found some for me to photograph. Unfortunately she had not but she did have some good news, she had seen a large Hawker flying around which she was pretty sure was a Norfolk Hawker. This was pleasing to know that it was still around but where has this individual come from and what is it doing in the woods? I decided to have a look for some butterflies and Chris said she would call if she saw anything. I had only just started searching when a small butterfly flew up in front of me and landed again showing its lovely colours, a stunning Heath Fritillary. I set about getting a couple of shots and managed a few when Chris called me over.

Heath Fritillary

 I was soon on my way and there flying around the car park over our heads was a NORFOLK HAWKER Dragonfly, a real rarity still in Kent. Its brown colour stood out well and those green eyes cannot be missed. For a few minutes it flew around and soon vanished not to be seen again. While we hoped it would reappear there was also a Hairy Dragonfly, 1 Broad bodied Chaser and a few Common Blue Damselflies. Also flying were 1 Speckled Wood and my first Large Skipper of the year. I shall hopefully return after work tomorrow and see if I can find the Norfolk Hawker and spend some time in the next few weeks trying to capture a few special shots of the Heath Fritillaries.

Broad bodied Chaser