Baslow Edge- 19th July 2020

Jayne and I had a walk from Curbar Gap up to Baslow Edge on Sunday. Bird wise, it was pretty quiet, with just the usual Meadow Pipits and a few Crows flying around, but we did enjoy some butterflies, moths and dragonflies.

We started out walk on Clodhall Lane and walked across to the small pond. Here we had a very brief view of a hawker dragonfly, possibly Common. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see it again, so couldn't clinch the id. We did, however, see a couple of Emerald Damselflies and a couple of Common Darter. Walking on from there, towards the Wellington Monument, we sat by a small stream to watch a fantastic male Golden-ringed Dragonfly that was patrolling a small stretch of water by the path. He also perched up on the rocks allowing us some superb views and  a photo.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

The butterflies seen were Ringlet (10+), Small Tortoiseshell (3), Small Heath (5+), Red Admiral (1), Gatekeeper (1), Small Skipper (3), Large Skipper (1), Meadow Brown (5) and best of all, a Painted Lady (our first record for 2020). 

Painted Lady

We also saw 2 species of day-flying moth, 3 Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moths and a Yellow Shell.

Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnet Moth