Fair Cop

White-faced darters in cop at Chartley Moss NNR in Staffordshire which is the largest example of a floating peat bog in Britain. 

Otherwise known as a schwingmoor a raft 3m thick of peat floats on top of a 13m deep lake. The trees growing in the peat sink through the surface and drown as they get older. Skeletons of dead trees in extra.

The white-faced darters are a rare dragonfly which has declined over the last 35 years but they love the acid bog and the sphagnum moss at the edges in which to breed in which there are no fish. I felt really lucky to see this cop today. I did end up with wet socks but that didn't matter.



Obviously this is quite a dangerous place and can only be visited with a permit or guide. We were counted in and counted out .....