Emperor

A cooler day made for pleasanter walking although I left it until halfway through the Olympics opening ceremony before heading out. I'll have to make sure I don't spend too much of my leave sat in front of the TV watching sport.

It had been a couple of weeks since I'd been up on the high part of the moor, so I headed in that direction. It was overcast most of the time but I was still seeing plenty of the usual moorland butterflies: Small Heath, Ringlet, Meadow Brown & Small Skipper along with a few Green-veined White, Small White & Small Tortoiseshell.

Up on Low Plain are a couple of larger ponds that at this time of year I check for dragonflies. I have seen them flying there before but I'm not any good at identifying anything other than the Brown Hawker in flight.

Today there were a couple patrolling and luckily one perched on some vegetation opposite where I was standing. It was a bit of a stretch for my zoom, but I was very pleased to secure an image showing a distinctive central dark line down the abdomen - an Emperor Dragonfly. This is the largest of the UK dragonflies and the first time I've (knowingly) seen one locally. Definitely the highlight of the day.