Cumbria images keep me posting.........Large Heath and Black Darter.

Despite 10 days in Kent i'm still relying on images from the other weekend due to a combination of torn calf muscle and major hip pain. Not been out birding or bugging once while i've been here but been out with my beautiful grandson a few times around the local country parks and beaches. That's a laugh. Well, what passes as a beach down here ranges between shells and shingle, oh for the wide open spaces of Northumberland. Speaking of Northumberland............here are a few more images from Cumbria beginning with a Large Heath, a butterfly you might not have encountered as, although it is primarily a northern species its habitat is mainly confined to boggy areas. Not an easy species to photograph although it has a slow lumbering flight. It tends to lift and fly for some distance before landing again with the underfoot conditions posing the biggest problem.

There is a large variation in the spot marking of this species depending where in the country you find it.

Away from the pools as we were leaving the site we encountered large numbers of newly emerged Black Darters perched on heather. Another species that tends to be found in and around bog pools and peat moss sites.