Loving Whixall Moss

Finally!  A day in the sun and warmth, and what a great day it turned into.  I'd wanted to visit Whixall Moss for a while to see raft spider.  Last year I made a successful trip to see large heath, but the day was dull cool and grey so the butterfly was a miracle on its own.

Today was much different.  The vast National Nature Reserve (NNR) was alive with insects.  Most evident were four-spotted chasers and every single pool had several of these great insects jostling for position.  Large red and azure blue damselflies were also abundant.  The only other dragonfly seen just happens to be one of the rarest in England, the white-faced darter.  At a conservative estimate I'd day around 20 of these brilliant little things were on the wing.

My target for the day, the raft spider was proving hard to track down, but an unexpected treat was another life tick - green tiger beetle.  These fast and agile little predators were found on the bare patches along the paths.  Occasionally they'd take flight for a short distance but given patience they would happily hunt around where I sat to admire them.  They were certainly an unexpected treat.

After several hours walking around this huge site I gave in and asked a photographer for some pointers.  He was waiting patiently next to a pool as a white-faced darter emerged.  Thankfully he was a regular visitor and knew exactly which direction to point me in.  Five minutes later I'd found the pool in question and spent a good half hour watching white-faced darters and four-spotted chasers.  I even saved a bee which has crashed into the pool.  I don't know if my act of kindness deserved a reward, but as I turned to leave and try another pool and gorgeous raft spider had drifted into the centre of the pool.  I sat back down and over the next 10 minutes the spider got closer and closer until it was just a few feet away.  Brilliant.