The Lyons Share

...she would probably look like this. I've been at Rye Harbour carrying on with the NVC I'm doing there this year where I bumped into a species I have not seen for 12 years. It's a female Red-veined Darter and it was by far the most well behaved dragonfly I saw today (there were dozens of pairs of Common Darters ovipositing today as well as Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawker but they were all very lively). I don't think I have ever seen the females of this species before and did wonder whether this was a teneral animal due to its reluctance to fly. I love the blue and red eyes, which along with the black-bordered yellow pterostigma and the yellow veins are ID features. Here are some more shots...

I saw one Clouded Yellow today, I am hoping it was a female of the form helice but it was so fast and it appeared to come straight in off the sea heading north west faster than I could run, and I can run pretty quick! I wonder if the best way to find Pale or Berger's Clouded Yellows is to catch and check closely every helice type Clouded Yellow you see? It's the only one I have seen this year though and I didn't get a chance.

But perhaps the scarcest thing I found today was a new one for me. A nice scarce (Na) carabid called Cymindis axillaris. Not a bad day!