With some decent sunny and warm weather this afternoon I headed down to Felbrigg Lake just in case any Red-veined Darters were present. Arriving at the lake I was amazed to find that there was a positive wader fest going on with 5 Common and 3 Green Sandpipers present, both site record numbers as far as I can recall.
There were good numbers of dragonflies present by the lake including Black-tailed Skimmers, Emperors and Broad-bodied Chasers, with the odd one conviniently perching up on vegetation in the surrounding meadows to enable me to get a pic.
A few Four-spotted Chasers were also present, along with the usual damselflies including these Blue-tailed in a mating wheel.
Butterflywise a few Meadow Browns were present round the park, along with this Large Skipper.
Acting on information gratefully received, I then headed off to Beeston, where I quickly found the Red-veined Darter around the Dew Pond on the Top Common where it was showing excellently. It eventually moved off from the pool and became quite mobile, but I managed to refind it again quite quickly each time I lost sight of it, as it perched up on the mown areas on the Common. With it being so obliging and having it all to myself I was able to get the photos I had hoped to get but failed to last weekend, with a selection reproduced below.
