Return to Whixall Moss

Today I made a return trip to Whixall Moss to try and catch up with the two species I missed on my last visit, at the start of the month: Large Heath and Raft Spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus). This time, I joined a guided walk, with a couple of experts - good move!!!

Within a few minutes of being back on the moss we had spotted a Raft Spider on the water. This first sider was a male, and just 10ft away was a female carrying an egg sac. Fantastic!!

Raft Spider

Raft Spider (female with egg sac)

The second species, Large Heath, was spotted about 15 minutes later. In total, we saw about 5, most of which didn't hang around to be photographed. Thankfully, a couple did, and I managed to get a few decent shots.

Large Heath (lifer!!)

Other sightings included: Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler (all singing), Large Skipper, Ringlet, Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Common Heath, Azure Damselfly, Emerald Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Common Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser and, of course, White-faced Darter.

White-faced Darter (mating pair)

Our guide also pointed out some of the special plants that can be seen on site, including Bog Asphodel, Lesser Bladderwort, Cranberry, Sundew and Royal Fen.

Whixall Moss - 1st June 2023

 Today Jayne and I visited the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses in Shropshire. We  went in search of two insects, the Large Heath butterfly and the White-faced Darter dragonfly.

Unfortunately, we didn't see the former species (perhaps a little early in the season??), but we did have fantastic views of the darter, including a pair "in tandem".

White-faced Darter (male)

Other wildlife spotted included: Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Green Hairstreak, Common Blue Butterfly, Orange Tip, Green Tiger Beetle, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Stonechat and Sundew.

Four-spotted Chaser

Sundew

White-faced Darter

Today Jayne and I spent two hours in the sunshine on the Natural England Chartley Moss reserve in Staffordshire, looking for a very rare dragonfly called the White-faced Darter (see link here for details of this species). We were there as part of a guided tour with a Natural England site manager, and the British Dragonfly Society's conservation officer, as this is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), with access allowed on just one day a year.

The walk started at 2pm, and the first sighting was a Barn Owl (!) flying through the fields by the entrance to the site. It even sat and posed for a photo.

Barn Owl

We were soon out on the bog, where we spotted a male Brimstone butterfly and a male Green Hairstreak. We walked across to the two pools where the darters are seen, and spent about one and half hours watching and photographing them. Here are my best efforts.

Male

Teneral (newly emerged dragonfly)

Male showing white face

As well as the White-faced Darters, we also saw Four-spotted Chasers, a Large Red Damselfly and a couple of blue damselflies, which were unfortunately, too far out to identify to species. A couple of Common Lizards were also spotted.

Common Lizard

Bird wise, it was quite quiet, but we did see a male Mallard, and heard Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap singing.