Dragonflies & Butterflies 13th to 17th July 2022

With the hot weather, some local trips for Butterflies and Dragonflies. Mostly Hertford Heath and Balls Wood but also at East End Green. Firstly some Butterflies including Purple Hairstreak.

Gatekeeper

Peacock

Meadow Brown 

Comma

Large Skipper

And finally, Brown Argus

I came across a few other interesting creatures including this Cinnabar Moth caterpillar, Forest Bug and Meadow Grasshoppers.

So now on to the Dragonflies, and a new site for me, an old quarry at East End Green which held a lot of Emperors.

The lake also held good numbers of Red-eyed Damselflies.

Freshly emerged Common Darter.

And my first Willow Emerald of the season.

But the Dragonfly highlights had to be at the brick pits on Hertford Heath, with initially the start of the Ruddy Darter season.

There are usually a few Scarce Emerald Damselflies there, so it was good to find this one, even with the ponds almost completely dried out.

But the big surprise was a male Southern Migrant Hawker. My first ever sighting in Hertfordshire, but it appears they are spreading from their strongholds in Essex and Kent.

A very enjoyable few days locally!