2 Peacock butterflies on Little Woolden Moss today.
Dave Thacker said
Sun Mar 15 4:30 PM, 2020
A Stoat was hunting Rats which have tunneled into the manure heaps on the fields near Rindle woods. It caught a large rat which it dragged off towards the drainage ditch.
Steven Nelson said
Sat Mar 7 8:07 PM, 2020
Little Woolden Moss today
A single small Scarlet Elf Cap noted
Steven Nelson said
Sun Dec 22 9:19 PM, 2019
Numerous Winter Moths flying around this evening on Irlam Moss
Steven Nelson said
Thu Dec 19 3:05 PM, 2019
Just Googled it and, yes, Stoats do apparently store food for later.
Steven Nelson said
Thu Dec 19 2:54 PM, 2019
Little Woolden Moss
1 Stoat along the track near the eastern entrance of the reserve with a dead vole or mouse in its mouth. It then saw me and disappeared into the grass verge only to reappear a minute later without its prey. It continued to hunt reappearing and disappearing a few times. Do Stoats stash their prey and return for it later?
Also, it was noticeably white along half its tail and pale around its face as though in partial moult towards a white winter coat.
Dave Steel said
Mon Dec 9 8:15 PM, 2019
Croxden
1 Stoat
Barton Moss
1 Hoverfly Sp...
John Williams said
Mon Jul 29 5:49 PM, 2019
Little Woolden Moss 09.45-15.00
Butterflies : Peacocks and Gatekeepers abundant. Also 8 Red Admirals, 7 Painted Ladies,
6 Small Copper, 8 Speckled Woods, 1 Small Skipper, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Comma, 1 Holly Blue,
3 Green Veined Whites, 4 Small Tortoiseshell and just 1 Meadow Brown.
Dragonflies : 1 Emperor, 7 Brown Hawkers, 1 Southern Hawker, 4 Common Hawkers (Including
coupled pair), 9 Black Darters and 4 Common Darters.
Lots of hawkers were flying over the pools, and were impossible to ID as they did'nt settle or come
close enough, most appeared around the size of Common Hawkers, but a couple were noticeably
smaller and could well have been early Migrants.
Lots of Clegs about too, they were really persistent and not deterred by insect repellent.
Steven Nelson said
Wed Jul 24 7:28 PM, 2019
Purple Hairstreak seen in Oak tree along Twelve Yards Road. The same tree in which I saw 5 last year.
1 Mole rescued from the road!
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Wednesday 24th of July 2019 07:29:35 PM
Lots of insects present on Little Woolden Moss today.
Butterflies: small copper, gatekeeper, skipper sp., meadow brown, small white, large white, speckled wood, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, peacock.
Odonata: common blue damselfly, emerald damselfly, banded demoiselle, black darter, common darter, four-spot chaser, southern hawker, common hawker, brown hawker, emperor.
John Williams said
Thu Jul 18 11:57 PM, 2019
Little Woolden Moss 15.00-19.00
Butterflies : 4 Large White, 6 Meadow Browns (All in SW corner), 3 Small Skippers,
1 Large Skipper, 4 Painted Ladies (Now looking really shabby), 4 Small Coppers,
2 Small Tortoiseshells, 4 Speckled Woods, 8 Red Admirals and lots of Gatekeepers.
Dragonflies : 1 Southern Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker plus 4 Common and 2 Black Darters.
Also lots of Common Field Grasshoppers.
Steven Nelson said
Sun Jul 7 1:34 PM, 2019
Chat Moss - late morning
Butterflies: 8 Small Skipper 4 Painted Lady 3 Gatekeeper 2 Red Admiral 2 Large White 6 Meadow Brown
Huge numbers (literally hundreds!) of Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort. Easily the most Ive ever seen. 2 adults seen.
Numerous Black Darter dragonflies
Royal Fern - first record for me on the Mosses
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Jul 4 10:25 PM, 2019
Big hatch of Black Darter on Chat Moss today.
Info thanks to Dave Steel
John Williams said
Mon Jun 3 10:43 PM, 2019
Little Woolden Moss 15.00-18.40
Butterflies : 3 Small Copper, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 Green Veined White.
1 Ichneumon Suspiciosus type wasp.
1 "Philedonides Lunana" type micro-moth.
1 moth that greatly resembled a Small Fan Foot, but I could'nt 100% sure of ID.
Steven Nelson said
Sat Apr 20 12:55 PM, 2019
Little Woolden Moss this morning
1 Vole sp (I think Bank Vole) ran across path in front of me 2 Large Red Damselflies - very newly emerged Numerous Green Tiger Beetles
Butterflies: Orange Tips in good numbers 1 Large White Peacock Small Tortoishell Speckled Wood
Shannon Llewellyn said
Fri Apr 19 11:00 PM, 2019
Excellent day for insects for me on Little Woolden Moss today.
First damselfly of the year seen, in the shape of a single large red.
Also first orange tips of the year, in good numbers. Also small copper (single), small tortoiseshell, peacock (lots), speckled wood, large white and brimstone.
Good numbers of green tiger beetle.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Feb 25 3:32 PM, 2019
A single Peacock butterfly was at Rindle this afternoon.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Nov 4 11:16 PM, 2018
Only two common darter for me on Little Woolden Moss. Beautiful spider, too, but I have no idea what it was; ground-dwelling species, about 1cm long, dark, with a grey water droplet-shaped marking high on the abdomen, this flanked by two curved rufous blothes, and a pair of cream dots beneath; also two columns of three cream dots on the lower part of abdomen. Laughably, I tried to draw this, but unfortunately I have all the artistic talent of the spider itself.
Couple of pipistrelle sp. along Astley Road when heading back, too.
John Rayner said
Sun Nov 4 6:03 PM, 2018
Mostly grey and overcast but then the sun came out and so did the insects.
A minimum of 16 Common Darters, some chasing around in groups of 3 , some perched on fences. Quite a late date for these. 1 Stoat hunting Un-named fungi (anyone help with this?)
Dragonflies : 1 Southern Hawker patrolling the woodland edge by the car park, another seen on the moss.
Also seen on the reserve were 5 Black Darters and numerous Common Darters.
Butterflies: 1 Red Admiral, 3 Speckled Woods, 1 Small Copper and 1 Comma.
A snooker ball sized Common Frog seen near the site of the former hide had a large growth on it's front leg, this seemed
to greatly inhibit the creature's movement, that's not good when there are crows about.
Is there a new pox epidemic amongst amphibians, it looks very nasty?.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Mon Sep 3 11:22 AM, 2018
Similar sightings to below on Little Woolden Moss yesterday; only additions were two southern hawker and a red admiral (no emperor, painted lady or common lizard for me).
Common and black darters, southern hawker, common blue and small copper on Croxdens.
I've seen far more small coppers this year than I ever have before, including in places I've never seen them in previous years; has it just been a particularly good year for them?
Steven Nelson said
Sun Sep 2 8:43 PM, 2018
Little Woolden Moss this afternoon
1 Common Lizard
Dragonflies: 1 Emperor 5 Common Darter 1 Black Darter
Butterflies: 1 Small Copper 1 Comma 1 Painted Lady
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 2nd of September 2018 08:45:42 PM
Good day for insects on Croxdens, with the following all about (plenty of white butterflies and small dragons out of range for ID):
Common blue Small white (these two making up the bulk of butterflies) Speckled wood Small copper Meadow brown Green-veined white 1 common blue damselfly 4 emerald damselfly 20+ black darter 2 common darter 1 or 2 brown hawker 3+ southern hawker 1 great diving beetle, in a small square water-logged hole cut into the peat (first time I've properly seen an adult). Several common backswimmers in there too.
Little Woolden Moss:
Common blue Small white Speckled wood Red admiral c10 black darter 1 common darter 1 brown hawker 1 southern hawker 1 common hawker 1 common lizard
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Aug 4 3:03 PM, 2018
The small weedy corner (cover for Pheasants) nearest to Rindle Wood in field 69 on Astley Moss contained no fewer than 200 mainly Large White (but some Small White) butterflies and was a fair old sight.
Steven Nelson said
Thu Jul 26 8:35 PM, 2018
Irlam, Chat, Little Woolden and Barton Mosses 16.00-18.00
Butterflies: Purple Hairstreak- I found a colony in Oak trees along Twelve Yards Road. 4-5 individuals in one tree and a single individual in a nearby tree. This is a first for me on the mosses - and the 3rd colony Ive found in various places this summer! Im sure there must be others waiting to be discovered on the mosses. Small Copper - 1 Holly Blue - 2 Common Blue - 10+ Gatekeeper - 3 Red Admiral - 3 Small White - 8 Large White - 5 Meadow Brown - 8 Speckled Wood - 15 Comma - 1
Odonata Emperor Dragonfly - 5 Black Darter - 3 Black-tailed Skimmer - 1 male Brown Hawker - 1
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Thursday 26th of July 2018 09:35:07 PM
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Thursday 26th of July 2018 09:39:28 PM
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Jun 10 10:53 PM, 2018
Good day for odonata on the Mosses today.
Irlam Moss: single common blue damselfly, copulating pair of large red damselfly, two four-spotted chaser, single southern hawker. Little Woolden Moss: Multiple four-spotted chaser and black-tailed skimmer, singles of broad-bodied chaser and emperor.
Butterflies on Irlam Moss: small white, large white, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell. Little Woolden Moss: small white, large skipper (confirmed, and probably small, too, though they didn't want to sit still), speckled wood, painted lady.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 10th of June 2018 10:53:38 PM
Andy Isherwood said
Sat May 19 9:21 PM, 2018
Several Green tiger Beetle showing well on the track at Little Woolden moss this pm also a few Orange tips and lots of chasers around the reserve.
John Williams said
Sat May 12 7:36 PM, 2018
Little Woolden Moss NR :
1 Green Tiger Beetle, 1 Large White, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Orange Tip and 8 Peacock butterflies.
2 Brown Hawker dragonflies, 1f Common Blue and lots of Large Red damselflies.
2 Clouded Border moths. There are still plenty of St Mark's flies around.
Ian Boote said
Sun May 6 7:56 PM, 2018
Astley Moss Wood Mouse and Broad Based Chaser, Red Damsel, Green Viend White, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood
Steven Nelson said
Sun May 6 10:11 AM, 2018
Little Woolden Moss 05.05.18 11.00-13.00
Lots of Red Damselflies Lots of St Marks Flies
Butterflies: Brimstone Orange Tip Peacock
06.05.18 07.30 - 09.30 1 Green Tiger Beetle
Steven Nelson said
Sat Apr 21 10:26 PM, 2018
1 female Red Damselfly - Astley Moss SSSI 5 Orange Tip butterflies - 2 Astley Moss , 3 Irlam Moss
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Apr 15 8:31 PM, 2018
Stoat on Irlam Moss today (first one for a while), and a peacock butterfly on Little Woolden Moss.
Steven Nelson said
Fri Apr 6 11:11 PM, 2018
2 small unidentified butterflies seen today - 1 at Little Woolden Moss and 1 at Croxden. Both seemed the same size and flight style and flying about 10 feet high and mostly silhouetted against the sky. Neither landed and flew quite fast. I managed a better glimpse of the one at Croxden through binoculars and it appeared plain light brown reminiscent of Large Skipper - but these aren't active until late May. Any ideas?
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Mar 26 11:49 PM, 2018
Brimstone on Chat Moss today.
Info thanks to Dave Steel
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Mar 25 10:25 PM, 2018
My first butterfly of the year today on Irlam Moss, a brimstone.
Steven Nelson said
Sun Mar 25 6:55 PM, 2018
A mink on the River Glaze at Great Woolden Hall bridge this afternoon.
Steven Nelson said
Sun Jan 28 7:17 PM, 2018
Irlam Moss
A reasonable sized but rather old and tatty Giant Puffball found today.
John Williams said
Fri Sep 1 7:30 PM, 2017
Little Woolden Moss 15.00-17.45
Dragonflies : 2 Black Darters and 1 Southern Hawker.
Butterflies: 1 Green Veined White, 2 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 Speckled Woods.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Mon Aug 28 6:37 PM, 2017
Peacock and speckled wood in good evidence on Little Woolden Moss today.
Plenty of black darters (including a couple of couple of copulating pairs), a few common darter (more on the path from Astley Road) and 3 southern hawker for the odonata also here.
More black and common darters on Croxden's.
John Williams said
Wed Aug 23 8:53 PM, 2017
Little Woolden Moss 13.00-16.00
Dragonflies : 4 Southern Hawkers on the NR, plus 2 more by Astley Road, and 4 Brown Hawkers.
Lots of Common and Black Darters were along the edge of the moss.
Butterflies : 1 Peacock, 2 Small Tortoiseshells and 6 Speckled Woods.
A "Volucella Pellucens" hover fly was by the car park, were a Common Sun Beetle scurried across the path.
John Williams said
Sat Aug 19 9:59 PM, 2017
Little Woolden Moss 12.30-16.30
With a strong westerly blowing and frequent heavy showers all insect life was seen around the car park and entrance.
1m Southern Hawker and 4 Common Darter dragonflies. 4 Speckled Wood and 1 Small White butterflies.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Jul 23 8:02 PM, 2017
Nice variety of insects about on Little Woolden Moss today:
Butterflies, in order of approximate abundance:
Gatekeeper, speckled wood, green-veined / small white, red admiral, small tortoiseshell, small skipper.
Odonata:
1 emerald damselfly (what a beauty) 40+ black darter 1 common darter (presumably the female also zipping about with it was same) 1 brown hawker 1+ southern hawker (also a couple of other un-id'd hawkers) Probable black-tailed skimmers amongst those zipping over the water, too.
c10 of the fungus gnat Sciara hemerobioides 1 stunning hoverfly, Volucella bombylans plumata; fantastic mimic, it fooled me until I had a proper look.
Stoat scampering into the undergrowth along Astley Road when walking back towards Irlam afterwards.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Jun 25 7:48 PM, 2017
A few insects about on Little Woolden Moss:
2 large skipper 1 red admiral 1 silver y 4+ azure damselfly 1 banded demoiselle 1 or 2 four-spotted chaser
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 25th of June 2017 07:49:07 PM
Steven Nelson said
Sun Jun 18 10:26 PM, 2017
Little Woolden Moss 16.00-17.00
8 Large Skipper 1 Red Admiral 1 Large Red Damselfly 1 Emporer Dragonfly 1 Four Spotted Chaser
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Jun 15 2:25 PM, 2017
Stoat hunting Rabbits by Astley Moss SSSI this afternoon, great to watch with Rabbits scattering everywhere and the Stoat eventually getting to within 8 feet of me, rearing onto its back legs for a few seconds and looking quizzically at me before shooting off again; brilliant!
Jeff Gorse said
Sun Jun 4 8:54 PM, 2017
Astley Moss mid-afternoon
Large numbers of large red damselfly, smaller numbers of common blue and 1 each of emerald damselfly and banded demoiselle
4 x broad bodied chaser
1 x common skipper
1 x weasel running across Rindle Road
Shannon Llewellyn said
Mon May 1 8:24 PM, 2017
Several large red damselflies on Little Woolden Moss today.
Brimstone and orange tip there too, and a holly blue (definitely 100% confirmed, this one!) at the end of the track from Astley Road.
John Williams said
Sun Apr 30 2:50 PM, 2017
Little Woolden Moss (10.00-13.00)
4 Peacock, 2 Speckled Wood and 1 Orange Tip butterflies. 1 Stoat.
2 Orange Tip butterflies
1 Brimstone
2 Peacock butterflies on Little Woolden Moss today.
A Stoat was hunting Rats which have tunneled into the manure heaps on the fields near Rindle woods. It caught a large rat which it dragged off towards the drainage ditch.
A single small Scarlet Elf Cap noted
1 Stoat along the track near the eastern entrance of the reserve with a dead vole or mouse in its mouth. It then saw me and disappeared into the grass verge only to reappear a minute later without its prey. It continued to hunt reappearing and disappearing a few times. Do Stoats stash their prey and return for it later?
Also, it was noticeably white along half its tail and pale around its face as though in partial moult towards a white winter coat.
Croxden
1 Stoat
Barton Moss
1 Hoverfly Sp...
Butterflies : Peacocks and Gatekeepers abundant. Also 8 Red Admirals, 7 Painted Ladies,
6 Small Copper, 8 Speckled Woods, 1 Small Skipper, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Comma, 1 Holly Blue,
3 Green Veined Whites, 4 Small Tortoiseshell and just 1 Meadow Brown.
Dragonflies : 1 Emperor, 7 Brown Hawkers, 1 Southern Hawker, 4 Common Hawkers (Including
coupled pair), 9 Black Darters and 4 Common Darters.
Lots of hawkers were flying over the pools, and were impossible to ID as they did'nt settle or come
close enough, most appeared around the size of Common Hawkers, but a couple were noticeably
smaller and could well have been early Migrants.
Lots of Clegs about too, they were really persistent and not deterred by insect repellent.
1 Mole rescued from the road!
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Wednesday 24th of July 2019 07:29:35 PM
Butterflies: small copper, gatekeeper, skipper sp., meadow brown, small white, large white, speckled wood, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, peacock.
Odonata: common blue damselfly, emerald damselfly, banded demoiselle, black darter, common darter, four-spot chaser, southern hawker, common hawker, brown hawker, emperor.
Butterflies : 4 Large White, 6 Meadow Browns (All in SW corner), 3 Small Skippers,
1 Large Skipper, 4 Painted Ladies (Now looking really shabby), 4 Small Coppers,
2 Small Tortoiseshells, 4 Speckled Woods, 8 Red Admirals and lots of Gatekeepers.
Dragonflies : 1 Southern Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker plus 4 Common and 2 Black Darters.
Also lots of Common Field Grasshoppers.
Butterflies:
8 Small Skipper
4 Painted Lady
3 Gatekeeper
2 Red Admiral
2 Large White
6 Meadow Brown
Huge numbers (literally hundreds!) of Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort. Easily the most Ive ever seen. 2 adults seen.
Numerous Black Darter dragonflies
Royal Fern - first record for me on the Mosses
Big hatch of Black Darter on Chat Moss today.
Info thanks to Dave Steel
Butterflies : 3 Small Copper, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 Green Veined White.
1 Ichneumon Suspiciosus type wasp.
1 "Philedonides Lunana" type micro-moth.
1 moth that greatly resembled a Small Fan Foot, but I could'nt 100% sure of ID.
1 Vole sp (I think Bank Vole) ran across path in front of me
2 Large Red Damselflies - very newly emerged
Numerous Green Tiger Beetles
Butterflies:
Orange Tips in good numbers
1 Large White
Peacock
Small Tortoishell
Speckled Wood
First damselfly of the year seen, in the shape of a single large red.
Also first orange tips of the year, in good numbers. Also small copper (single), small tortoiseshell, peacock (lots), speckled wood, large white and brimstone.
Good numbers of green tiger beetle.
A single Peacock butterfly was at Rindle this afternoon.
Couple of pipistrelle sp. along Astley Road when heading back, too.
A minimum of 16 Common Darters, some chasing around in groups of 3 , some perched on fences. Quite a late date for these.
1 Stoat hunting
Un-named fungi (anyone help with this?)
Cheers, John
Dragonflies : 1 Southern Hawker patrolling the woodland edge by the car park, another seen on the moss.
Also seen on the reserve were 5 Black Darters and numerous Common Darters.
Butterflies: 1 Red Admiral, 3 Speckled Woods, 1 Small Copper and 1 Comma.
A snooker ball sized Common Frog seen near the site of the former hide had a large growth on it's front leg, this seemed
to greatly inhibit the creature's movement, that's not good when there are crows about.
Is there a new pox epidemic amongst amphibians, it looks very nasty?.
Common and black darters, southern hawker, common blue and small copper on Croxdens.
I've seen far more small coppers this year than I ever have before, including in places I've never seen them in previous years; has it just been a particularly good year for them?
1 Common Lizard
Dragonflies:
1 Emperor
5 Common Darter
1 Black Darter
Butterflies:
1 Small Copper
1 Comma
1 Painted Lady
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 2nd of September 2018 08:45:42 PM
Common blue
Small white (these two making up the bulk of butterflies)
Speckled wood
Small copper
Meadow brown
Green-veined white
1 common blue damselfly
4 emerald damselfly
20+ black darter
2 common darter
1 or 2 brown hawker
3+ southern hawker
1 great diving beetle, in a small square water-logged hole cut into the peat (first time I've properly seen an adult). Several common backswimmers in there too.
Little Woolden Moss:
Common blue
Small white
Speckled wood
Red admiral
c10 black darter
1 common darter
1 brown hawker
1 southern hawker
1 common hawker
1 common lizard
The small weedy corner (cover for Pheasants) nearest to Rindle Wood in field 69 on Astley Moss contained no fewer than 200 mainly Large White (but some Small White) butterflies and was a fair old sight.
Butterflies:
Purple Hairstreak- I found a colony in Oak trees along Twelve Yards Road. 4-5 individuals in one tree and a single individual in a nearby tree. This is a first for me on the mosses - and the 3rd colony Ive found in various places this summer! Im sure there must be others waiting to be discovered on the mosses.
Small Copper - 1
Holly Blue - 2
Common Blue - 10+
Gatekeeper - 3
Red Admiral - 3
Small White - 8
Large White - 5
Meadow Brown - 8
Speckled Wood - 15
Comma - 1
Odonata
Emperor Dragonfly - 5
Black Darter - 3
Black-tailed Skimmer - 1 male
Brown Hawker - 1
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Thursday 26th of July 2018 09:35:07 PM
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Thursday 26th of July 2018 09:39:28 PM
Irlam Moss: single common blue damselfly, copulating pair of large red damselfly, two four-spotted chaser, single southern hawker.
Little Woolden Moss: Multiple four-spotted chaser and black-tailed skimmer, singles of broad-bodied chaser and emperor.
Butterflies on Irlam Moss: small white, large white, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell.
Little Woolden Moss: small white, large skipper (confirmed, and probably small, too, though they didn't want to sit still), speckled wood, painted lady.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 10th of June 2018 10:53:38 PM
1 Green Tiger Beetle, 1 Large White, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Orange Tip and 8 Peacock butterflies.
2 Brown Hawker dragonflies, 1f Common Blue and lots of Large Red damselflies.
2 Clouded Border moths. There are still plenty of St Mark's flies around.
Astley Moss Wood Mouse and Broad Based Chaser, Red Damsel, Green Viend White, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood
05.05.18 11.00-13.00
Lots of Red Damselflies
Lots of St Marks Flies
Butterflies:
Brimstone
Orange Tip
Peacock
06.05.18 07.30 - 09.30
1 Green Tiger Beetle
5 Orange Tip butterflies - 2 Astley Moss , 3 Irlam Moss
Brimstone on Chat Moss today.
Info thanks to Dave Steel
A reasonable sized but rather old and tatty Giant Puffball found today.
Dragonflies : 2 Black Darters and 1 Southern Hawker.
Butterflies: 1 Green Veined White, 2 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 Speckled Woods.
Plenty of black darters (including a couple of couple of copulating pairs), a few common darter (more on the path from Astley Road) and 3 southern hawker for the odonata also here.
More black and common darters on Croxden's.
Dragonflies : 4 Southern Hawkers on the NR, plus 2 more by Astley Road, and 4 Brown Hawkers.
Lots of Common and Black Darters were along the edge of the moss.
Butterflies : 1 Peacock, 2 Small Tortoiseshells and 6 Speckled Woods.
A "Volucella Pellucens" hover fly was by the car park, were a Common Sun Beetle scurried across the path.
With a strong westerly blowing and frequent heavy showers all insect life was seen around the car park and entrance.
1m Southern Hawker and 4 Common Darter dragonflies. 4 Speckled Wood and 1 Small White butterflies.
Butterflies, in order of approximate abundance:
Gatekeeper, speckled wood, green-veined / small white, red admiral, small tortoiseshell, small skipper.
Odonata:
1 emerald damselfly (what a beauty)
40+ black darter
1 common darter (presumably the female also zipping about with it was same)
1 brown hawker
1+ southern hawker (also a couple of other un-id'd hawkers)
Probable black-tailed skimmers amongst those zipping over the water, too.
c10 of the fungus gnat Sciara hemerobioides
1 stunning hoverfly, Volucella bombylans plumata; fantastic mimic, it fooled me until I had a proper look.
Stoat scampering into the undergrowth along Astley Road when walking back towards Irlam afterwards.
2 large skipper
1 red admiral
1 silver y
4+ azure damselfly
1 banded demoiselle
1 or 2 four-spotted chaser
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 25th of June 2017 07:49:07 PM
8 Large Skipper
1 Red Admiral
1 Large Red Damselfly
1 Emporer Dragonfly
1 Four Spotted Chaser
Stoat hunting Rabbits by Astley Moss SSSI this afternoon, great to watch with Rabbits scattering everywhere and the Stoat eventually getting to within 8 feet of me, rearing onto its back legs for a few seconds and looking quizzically at me before shooting off again; brilliant!
Astley Moss mid-afternoon
Large numbers of large red damselfly, smaller numbers of common blue and 1 each of emerald damselfly and banded demoiselle
4 x broad bodied chaser
1 x common skipper
1 x weasel running across Rindle Road
Brimstone and orange tip there too, and a holly blue (definitely 100% confirmed, this one!) at the end of the track from Astley Road.
4 Peacock, 2 Speckled Wood and 1 Orange Tip butterflies. 1 Stoat.