Having heard about the Dainty Damselflies at Sandwich Bay last year I contacted the Sandwich Bay Observatory to see if they would be running any field trip in 2021 to see them. Earlier this year I got an email saying they were and we got booked on the am trip on the 19th.
Sandwich Bay Observatory field trips this summer were limited by the fact the Open Golf starts next week and a lot of the access will be closed off, plus it will be very busy. They were going initially to do this weekend only, but it sold out within an hour, so they added some earlier dates in. They plan to run more next year, so keep an eye out on their website field trip section They only charge £5, which we thought was great value, we would have been happy at £10 each - there is also a £1 toll fee.
It was dull cool overcast day, but it proved excellent for photographing the Dainties, as they were all sat on top of the grass stems pretty motionless, whereas if it had been hot and sunny they probably would have been extremely active. In the end we saw at least 45, 10% of their higher count of 450. We also had 11 Variable, a few Azure and Blue-tailed, and a single Emerald Damselfly, a single Common Darter, and one of two Red-veined Darters, plus a single fresh Four-spotted Chaser. A single Painted Lady and a couple of fresh Small Skippers were about it on the butterfly front. not surprising given the overcast conditions.
We had a look at some of the local Orchids to round the day off.
Dainty Damselflies
Azure Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Variable Damselfly
Red-veined Darter
Four-spotted Chaser
Emerald Damselfly
Common Darter
Small Skipper
Marsh Helleborine
Lizard Orchid