Silverlake in Dorset (11th - 17th August 2025)
My last week off work so we booked an AirBNB on the outskirts of Weymouth 'Dorset' for our first proper week away as a couple for a good few years. Lovely week away spending time in Weymouth, Portland, Lulworth and Silverlake where Scarlet Darter and Lesser Emperor had been reported over the previous weeks.
Two hours on tuesday morning between 9:30 and 11:30 resulted in me seeing Lesser Emperor Dragonfly (2+), Emperor Dragonfly (5+), Red-eyed Damselfly (2+), Common Blue Damselfly (5+), Blue-tailed Damselfy (5+) & Black-tailed Skimmer (5+). I was just starting to think I wasn't going to see a Scarlet Darter when I got a quick glimpse of one as it got chased by a Skimmer across the surface of the pond. Scarlet Darter was briefly seen a further 3-4 times before it landed just long enough to grab a few record photo's. Just as I was leaving a Clouded Yellow made it's way along the edge of the pond, but it didn't hang around long enough for the opportunity of grabbing a few photographs. Other butterflies included Red Admiral (2), Gatekeeper (5+), Meadow Brown (5+), Comma (1), Speckled Wood (2), Holly Blue (1), Large White (1), Small White (1) & Green-veigned White (2+). Wasp Spider (5+) were also an added bonus.
On Thursday we visited Lulworth Cove, which was typically busy with tourists. Nice opportunity to see the beauty of the place but was too busy for me and was good to leave after having a nice meal & pint. A Hobby was briefly seen hunting hirundines soon after leaving the cove.
Decided to visit Silverlake again on friday morning to practice flight shots and hopefully get a decent photograph of Scarlet Darter. Unfortunately, their was no sign of Scarlet Darter, but I did enjoy two hours of quietly watching and photographing the dragonflies that included a very obliging Migrant Hawker. Was very pleased to see a Clouded Yellow, which was perhaps the same one that was seen on tuesdays. This time it posed nicely and managed to get a few photographs. A Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper were seen briefly.
A total of 24 different species of birds were seen during the week with Greenfinch (20+), Green Woodpecker (2+), Raven (3+), Kingfisher (1) & Northern Wheatear (1) being the best. Not bad considering no birding hotspots were visited.
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