Little Barbrook Reservoir

 On Sunday, I had a couple of hours at Little Barbrook Reservoir. I went looking for Whinchat (no luck), Stonechat (1 family party seen) and dragon/damselflies.

Juvenile Stonechat ( 1 of 3 seen)

Odanata seen were: Emerald Damselfly (20+, including pairs in tandem), Black Darter (1 male) and Golden-ringed Dragonfly (2, 1 male).

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Big Moor Dragons - 26th July 2025

Yesterday, Jayne and I had a walk up to Little Barbrook Reservoir on Big Moor. We went to look for dragonflies, and managed to see a couple of new species for the year.

The highlight, as always, was our first Golden-ringed Dragonflies of 2025. We saw two individuals, both males, including this one that had, unfortunately, damaged its body, presumably whilst emerging. Despite this, it appeared to be doing ok, and we got very lucky, when it perched by the main path eating a wasp!

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Undamaged male!

Other odanata seen were: Emerald Damselfly (new for year), Black Darter (1) and Common Blue Damselfly (2 males).

A few butterflies were on the wing: Gatekeeper (8), Small Heath (1) and Red Admiral (1).

Birdwise, it was very quiet, but we did manage to see a couple of Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, a Common Buzzard, and a single, juvenile Stonechat.

Big Moor - 12th August 2023

 Jayne and I had a walk up to Big Moor on Saturday. The weather wasn't great - windy and rain showers (surprise, surprise!), but we did manage a couple of "year ticks": Whinchat (181) and Black Darter.

The Whinchat, a single juvenile, was seen on the top of the bracken, along with a family party of Stonechat. Here are photos of the two species (both juveniles) to show the key differences.

Whinchat

Stonechat

We walked on to Little Barbrook Reservoir, where we managed to find a couple of female Black Darters. 

Black Darter

Dragonfly and Butterfly News

Over the summer period I like to get out and about recording dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies. Recently I've added a few new species.

The first new insects were spotted last week on a walk around Cupola Ponds, Stanedge. Emerald Damselflies were very common here, along with several Common Blue Damselflies, several Common and Brown Hawkers and an Emperor dragonfly.

Emerald Damselfly (male)

Afterwards, I drove up to Big Moor, where, again, many Emerald Damselflies were flying about, including several pairs "in cop" i.e. mating. Also seen here were Common Darter (pairs in cop and newly emerged individuals), Common Hawker and a very nice Wall Brown butterfly.

Emerald Damselflies (mating pair)

The last new species were Ruddy Darter and Black Darter. The Ruddy Darter, a male, was seen on Monday at RSPB Old Moor, and the Black Darter, males, females and newly emerged, (tenerals) were seen at Little Barbrook Reservoir on Big Moor.

Ruddy Darter (male)

Black Darter (female, I think)

Black Darter (male)

Big Moor Year Tick

Last Thursday I spent a few hours up on Big Moor. Whilst there I added Whinchat to the "year list", with one adult and at least 3 juveniles present.

Whinchat (juvenile)

Whilst up there, I also saw juvenile Stonechat, Meadow Pipits, Skylark and 5 Red Deer.

Red Deer

Insect wise, I saw Black Darter, Small Heath, Common Darter, Common Hawker (2) and Emerald Damselfly.

Black Darter

Common Darter (female/immature)

Small Heath on Harebell

Emerald Damselfly (male)

Year List update:
166 - Whinchat

Adder, Fox Moth and Black Darter

Following yesterday's WeBS walk I managed to get out again and enjoyed a lovely walk with Jayne on Big Moor.

The sun was shining, and in just over an hour, we spotted my first ever Adder, a beautiful female, that unfortunately managed to slither away into the undergrowth before I could photograph it. Thanks Jayne for your excellent "spot".

We also had several Black Darter dragonflies, including several pairs "in tandem" and "ovipositing" (egg laying), into nearby Little Barbrook reservoir. I managed to photograph both males and a female.

Male Black Darter

 

Female Black Darter

 

On the way back to the car we spotted this Fox Moth caterpillar. Fox Moths are common moths, often found heath and moorland. The adult moths fly between May and June, but the larva feed until September and then overwinter on or just beneath the ground under moss or leaf litter. They then emerge in the following spring and pupate. See here for more details, including pictures of the adult moths.

 

Fox Moth caterpillar

 

Wragg's Quarry Dragons

After our ringing session yesterday the sun came out and the temperatures soared to an amazing 20 degrees, so I popped up to Wragg's Quarry on Beeley Moor to search for some elusive dragonflies. I read a very good blog www.darleydalewildlife.blogspot.co.uk , which had some sightings of the two species I wanted to see, and is definitely worth a read.

Pond at Wragg's Quarry

As soon as I arrived I spotted my first species and a "lifer"; Common Hawker. This large dragonfly is very active, rarely settling for more than a few seconds, so I was very pleased when a stunning male took time out of patrolling the small pond to sit on a rock.

Common Hawker

All in all I saw at least 5 male Common Hawkers over the small pond.

The other target species for the morning was Black Darter, and again I was very lucky to catch up with several dragons including this male and female "in tandem".

Male and female Black Darter

 

This pair are mating, a process that can take from 6 - 60 minutes(!), and the male will stay attached to the female whilst she lays the eggs or "oviposits" them into the vegetation in the pond. Darley Dales Wildlife has an excellent picture of a pair doing just that here.

 

As well as the pair, I also managed to find this lone male basking on a rock, close to the water. They are non-territorial, and often spend time perched up on vegetation, rocks and bare ground. Identification is pretty straight forward, as it is the only all-black dragonfly in Britain. As can be seen here, it also has black legs, a waisted abdomen and a black pterostigma (the black patch on the wings). A lovely insect. The Black Darter's favoured habitat is shallow, acidic, nutrient-poor pools on heathland and moorlands. This makes the pond at Wragg's Quarry ideal.

Male Black Darter

 

Other dragonflies seen today were; Common Darter and Emerald Dragonfly.

Barbrook Dragons!

Every summer I like to visit a small area of moorland just off the A621 Baslow road to look for a few of my favourite dragonflies, namely Black Darter and Golden-ringed Dragonfly. The area that I call Barbrook Bridge is located by the junction of the A621 and a minor road leading to Cubar in North East Derbyshire, grid refernce SK278741.

Bar Brook Bridge

As you can see, the site is an area of moorland with the Bar Brook running through the middle of it. Just under the bridge there is a small, slow flowing pool, which then runs into a a shallow, much faster flowing stream. My visit today started at the bridge where the Black Darters as usually to be found. I say usually, because unfortuntaely I didn't find any today! What I did find, however, was this amazing spider.

Spider species

Moving further down the river I walked through the vegetation when I suddenly disturbed a large dragonfly species. It flew a short distance, before landing on the ground. I crept up and saw a beautiful Golden-ringed Dragonfly probing the ground with its rear end. I realised that this was a female egg laying or ovipositing! As I watched it I noticed that it had got its wings caught in the water, so I reached down and it crawled out of the water and sat on my hand vibrating its wings to dry off and warm up, before flying off again, when it was lost from view. What an experience!

       Golden-ringed Dragonfly

After this amazing encounter I walked up to a smaller pool where I managed to find a Common Darter, 2 male Emerald Damselflies and half a dozen "blue" Damselflies.

Common Darter

Emerald Damselfly

Apart from the dragons several other birds and insects were also  present in the area. Butterflies were Small Copper, Small Heath, Meadow Brown and my first Wall Brown of the year. 

Wall Brown

Birds present were Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Goldfinch and Blue Tit.