A White Letter Day - on 12th July, 2017

I'd first visited Ticknall Limeyards earlier in the year, having been recommended it as being good for dragonflies and damselflies. This would be my third visit. There was a fair bit of sunshine and, for a change, it wasn't too breezy. However, it was just after a cold wet spell so I wasn't over-hopeful.

On arrival at the place where I park my car in Ticknall I was accosted by a gentleman who asked if, by any chance, I was headed for Ticknall Limeyards. He explained to me that he was recovering from a stroke, and had difficulty in finding directions. He also pointed out that he didn't walk very quickly - which suited me fine! So off we set. 

The gentleman was on a mission to find a particular species of butterfly which he said had been reported as being seen in the limeyards. If I remember correctly, it was Silver-washed Fritillary that he was looking for. I told him that I was looking for dragonflies, and he said he didn't know much about them - in the event it turned out that he was probably more knowledgeable than myself on that subject as he was pointing out and identifying species without hesitation! 

He stayed with me for a while and then went off to return to the lime kilns which we had passed earlier, where he thought he had most chance of finding his target species.

The first subjects to get my attention were a pair of Ruddy Darter. I'm rather fond of the first image below, although it is not of the best quality, because it shows the pair in tandem, with the male having already touched down on the stem, but the female still hovering. Moments later, she too touched down.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (pair in tandem) - Ticknall Limeyards

On 1st June I'd been impressed by the number of Red-eyed Damselfly that were here. On this day I saw just one, which stayed distant before disappearing.

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

I think this visit possibly gave me my first local sighting of Common Darter for the year.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

An Emperor appeared for a short while, but I only got a distant record shot.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

Other damselflies here included Common Blue Damselfly, and Azure Damselfly.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (pair in tandem) - Ticknall Limeyards

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

I also took some more shots of Ruddy Darter.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (teneral female) - Ticknall Limeyards

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

At one point in time, I took a break to look at some nearby orchids. There was an area that was covered by a mixture of Common Spotted Orchid and Fragrant Orchid. The first image shows part of that area.

Common Spotted Orchid and Fragrant Orchid - Ticknall Limeyards

Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) - Ticknall Limeyards

Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) - Ticknall Limeyards

I'd decided that it was about time to depart, but took a few shots of another teneral female Ruddy Darter before setting off.

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) (teneral female) - Ticknall Limeyards

Heading back, I soon found the gentleman that had accompanied me earlier. He was sitting on a bank, keeping an eye out for the butterflies. This prompted me to wander off in the immediate area to see if I could find anything interesting for him. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what I took to be a Purple Hairstreak on some Rosebay Willowherb. I took a few shots, dropped my hat on the ground so I could find the location again (there was a lot of Rosebay Willowherb around!) and rushed off to get the gentleman. I told him what I'd found and he followed me to my hat - the butterfly was still there (so was my hat)!

It was not until I looked at my photos when I'd got home that I realised that what we'd seen had been the elusive White-letter Hairstreak. If the gentleman that was with me had known of my mistake, he was too polite to say so! I was delighted with this find, as it was a 'lifer' for me.

White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) - Ticknall Limeyards

After a while it flew up into the trees and was lost to sight. I continued on my way back to my car, stopping to photograph a Comma and a Gatekeeper en-route.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - Ticknall Limeyards

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards

Before I reached my car, I couldn't resist taking a shot of wild flowers in a field  - sadly there were no butterflies on them!

Wild Flowers - Ticknall

It was now time to head home and check what I had managed to achieve with my camera.

Thank you for dropping by.

I suspect that my next post will feature my initial experiences with my new macro lens.