slow day

...another busy day, today, but we managed to find time for a stroll on Upton Heath while we were in Poole.

Upton Heath was the most highly devastated of the Dorset heath fires that hit the news last June. 250 acres of rare flora and fauna heath was decimated by the flames so it was encouraging to see just how green it is looking one year on.

Especially encouraging, was seeing a sand lizard within minutes of starting our walk. He was a beautifully marked and much greener specimen than the one I blipped a week or so ago, but he was too quick to get a shot. So disappointing! The bracken around the boggy areas has plenty of Emperor Dragonflies hunting overhead and several of these beautifully coloured Emerald Damselflies. The wet areas themselves were a riot of gold from the Bog Asphodel but the only other wildlife of interest was a Slow Worm that, like the lizard, was anything but slow! I did get a couple of images but, as it was rapidly winding its way away from me, I was unable to get enough head detail to maintain interest.

This shot of the Emerald Damselfly Lestes sponsa is not one of my finest but the light was poor and I was leaning painfully and deeply into the gorse bush that she is perched on...