White-faced darter and more

Backblip

Yesterday was F's birthday.  His chose activity was a walk on Whixall Moss (a National Nature Reserve lowland moss). 

I made a picnic including tomatoes, radishes, cucumber and lettuce grown outdoors in my garden. Then we went for our walk. A lot of the usual pools had dried up due to the hot weather and some paths were impassible the vegetation had grown up high.

There were no birds visible but lots of insects, especially butterflies (nine types). There were plenty of dragonflies around too.  The top one is a Whixall speciallity, the white faced darter.  This is a female as the male is dark with red markings. They're only found on lowland acidic bog, a rare habitat these days after all the years of peat extraction. 

I managed to get a Common Hawker in flight after much trying and the fourth photo is a Holly Blue butterfly.

Later, we went for a meal at an Indian restaurant in Oswestry.  I had recorded the semi-final of the Women's Football Euros.  I'm glad that I did as England won in tremendous style.