White-faced darters mating

Today we went to Whixall Moss NNR (the English part of course).  We had a lovely walk around and saw a jay, a reed bunting and a male stonechat with a youngster (extra).

My main photo is of a pair of white-faced darter dragonflies mating (the male is the red one and the female has yellow markings).  She then laid her eggs in the pool There's an extra photo of her perched on a branch.

They are very rare dragonflies and there are only a few sites in England with more in Scotland where they can be seen. Luckily we have them at Whixall and some were sent to the Dellamare Forest in Cheshire to form a colony there.

The reason for their rarity is that they have very specific needs - they need a lowland acidic bog with sphagnum moss covered pools with trees nearby.  With all the peat extraction and sphagnum moss used for hanging baskets it's no wonder that habitats are declining. Luckily this bog has been saved for wildlife.