Tranmire and Fen Bog's,Saturday 11th August.

Wheeldale Moor.

Some of the local girls.

Female Antler Moth.

Male Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Sericomyia silentis.

An all day out today with Dave,saw us visiting a couple of sites on the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors,resulting in a great days wildlife watching and enjoying the cracking scenery.The first site we visited was Tranmire bogs and the adjacent Wheeldale Moor and this site provided us with some great sightings.Very few birds were seen here,apart from a couple of hunting Sparrowhawks,a single juvvie Grey Wagtail,a couple of lovely Curlew,as they called over the moorland scenery and a Great-spotted Woodie calling in the nearby forest.So it was left to insects,with the highlights being provided by singles of Common Hawker and Black Darter from the world of Dragonflies and a few nice moths in the form of a mating pair of Antler Moths and a lovely Barred Red and lots of the stunning Sericomyia silentis,one of Britains largest Hoverflies.Several bogland plants were found,which included Bog Asphodel and Round-leaved Sundew.A shocking find,was a Fen trap set on a pole crossing one of the many moorland streams,the days of barbaric pastimes still havn't gone!.A chance find on the way to Fen Bog,was a cracking little site near to Bumble Wood and Wheeldale Gills,were a moorland stream had created a ford.Here we managed to find 4 cracking Golden-ringed Dragonfly,3 males and a female.The males were watched sparring,with 1 particular male chasing the other 2 males away from his territory and later chasing the ovipositing female,what great pieces of behaviour to experience with such a stunning species.Also seen here was a Dipper,zooming along the stream,a great sight.So it was off to Fen Bog and after a well earned Icecream,we began to search this superb site.Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and became more cloudy,but we still managed to find a couple of Black Darter,including an exuviae,4 Keeled Skimmer and at least 4 Dark-green Frits,my first of the year.Other nice sightings here included a female Adder,a tiny Common Lizard,3 male Bog-bush Cricket,Tachina grossa,Chrysotoxum bicinctum and a good mixture of Moorland plants,which included Heath-spotted Orchid,Round-leaved Sundew and Butterwort.A few birds were seen here which included,a single Crossbill,a couple of Redpoll and breeding Whinchats.What a great day today with all the great sightings and fantastic scenery and a big thanks to Dave for driving.