Ravensroost Heatwave

25 June - Flaming June, already 27 degrees by 10am. An early arrival before the butterflies became to active to settle at all. Quite a few pristine White Admirals seen, together with Silver-washed Fritillaries...….. a White-letter Hairstreak seen briefly before it flew up towards the treetops, and several Purple Hairstreaks settled including one at eye level. Lots of Marbled Whites in the meadow.

Norfolk Hawker, at last ..............

15 June - At last, time and weather came together. I had discovered that there is an established population of Norfolk (Green-eyed) Hawkers much nearer than East Anglia, at Paxton Pits between Bedford and Cambridge. The forecast was warm morning sunshine, and possible showers in the afternoon. Shortly after arrival, fairly early, I fortunately bumped into the local dragonfly guru, Peter Wood, and he took me off the beaten track to show me the area where the Hawkers were perching, enjoying the heat of the morning rays. I had already seen a couple flying, and there were several around a small area of overgrown vegetation, giving close perched views. A fairly small Hawker, with buff-brown body and obvious large green eyes. An excellent addition to my dragonfly list, Scarce Chaser and Four-spotted Chaser also being seen.