A group of Nature group members visited Buxton Heath on Sunday 25th June on the hottest day so far of 2023 (32degrees and full sunshine). It is a bumpy year for Silver-studded Blues so plenty of these to photograph including a pristine mating pair being photobombed (AM).
The rest of the morning was spent in the wetter areas photographing the specialist plants to be found there including Marsh Helleborines (LS), Heath (LS) and Marsh Orchids and Bog Pimpernel (JS).
In the afternoon, two returned to the orchid area though it was too hot and bright to do much photography while the others walked in the shade of the woodland photographing dragonflies that hawked long the paths and rested on the brambles, including Keeled Skimmers male and female (AM), a special species of the area.
Monday's venue was Winterton Dunes where we hoped to spend the morning photographing the Little Terns flying out of their nest site and diving for fish etc but, this year, the whole colony decided to move further up the coast to breed. Kevin stayed on the beach and got some very pictorial images of Ringed Plovers (KP)while the rest of us explored the Dunes photographing large number of Robber Flies (JB) with their varied prey, solitary bees, Ants (JB) and attempted (unsuccessfully to capture the very active Dragonflies and the various pools in the dune slacks
Images by Ann Miles, Lesley Simpson, John Simpson, Kevin Pigney and John Bulpitt)
For more events to attend go to Nature (rps.org)