Ruddy Darter

Between taking the car into the garage to have it's wiper blades replaced (more complicated than I could cope with, as the windscreen washing fluid is fed through the blades) and taking Ben to the dentist, there was just time for a walk round Castor Hanglands to check out a rather suspect record of a rare plant.

My mission proved a bit of a trek, as the grid reference I'd been given led to a rather inaccessible part of the wood, and my short cut back was far more brambly than I'd expected and involved squeezing through a small, muntjac-sized hole in a fence. Quite exhausting on a hot and sticky day! No sign of the rare plant, but there was a much commoner species that could possibly have been mistaken for it. 

The first of the Ruddy Darters were enjoying the warmth more than me - luckily this one stopped long enough for me to grab a quick photograph.