Friday 15th June - Shenstone and Hillditch Pool

There was another break in the weather late morning so I decided to undertake a walk around the Butts Lane area looking for possible invertebrates.  I didn't see as much as I had hoped for but I did manage to record 4 day-flying moths: A Cinabar, a Brown Silver-line and 2 Pammene aurana.  The latter two species were new additions to my patch list so it was already a worthwhile visit.

Also of interest was a juvenile Common Whitethroat that was being attended to by an adult.  This is the first sign of successful breeding for Whitethroat in this location this year.  Also present in the Butts Lane area were 2 Common Buzzards and a Kestrel.

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From Shenstone I decided to pop don the road to nearby Hartlebury to visit Hillditch Pool.  The pool is located at the rear of Hartlebury Common and has good numbers of water lilies on it.  The lilies were the reason I visited as I knew that in Worcestershire the stronghold for Red-eyed Damselflies is on the numerous lily ponds that surround Kidderminster.

On reaching the pond I scanned the lily pads and I soon picked up half a dozen ♂ Red-eyed Damselflies.  The males tend to spend large periods of time perched on floating vegetation and true to form these were doing just that.  Also present on the bankside vegetation were Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies.

After spending a while observing the damselflies i decided to head back to my car.  As I was walking the footpath alongside the edge of the pool something brightly coloured caught my eye.  Perched on the top of a bracken frond was a stunning and rather resplendent looking Scarce Chaser dragonfly.  I couldn't believe my luck as this was a 'lifer' for me.  They do occur in Worcestershire in the south of the county at Eckington and are occasionally seen in other areas but still this was the last thing i expected to see.

As I drove back home the heavens opened up again and the rain set in for the day...but hey I didn't care I had a great couple of hours out there that morning.

Scarce Chaser - Hillditch Pool

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Pammene aurana - Shenstone

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