Red-veined Darter.

Early in the week news came out of  up to 4 Red-veined Darters on marshland on the outskirts of Eastbourne. Having never knowingly seen this species before I was quite keen to go and have a look for them. On Wednesday morning Nigel and I had a brief look which resulted in a couple of possible sightings only. The heat then got a bit too much so it was off to Friston Forest for a bit of shade. In the forest there were large numbers of Peacock and lots of very fresh Brimstone. The Broad-leaved Helleborines were already in full flower and some were even going over. Back at the car I disturbed a Four-spotted Footman, this is quite a rare moth. I have only seen this moth once before when I had a pair in the trap last year. This one was a male, which is smaller and doesn't have the spots!! Late in the day I called back for the Darters where I saw at least 2 clearly, but with them being out in the water my macro lens was not strong enough.

Brimstone.

Broad-leaved Helleborine.

Four-spotted Footman.

Yesterday, I called back for a 3rd attempt at the Red-veined Darters armed with a 500mm zoom lens. Although I do not like to use a long lens on close-up photography I had little choice in this instance. At least I was able to get some acceptable results, which considering I was hand holding the 500mm at minimum focus at a very odd angle it was very surprising.