Clara Vale on 27th August 2008

Adults are usually found along tracksides or woodland edges, visiting flowers or settled in sunlight on vegetation or bare areas of ground. They are very strong and active fliers and appear to disperse widely, often being found far from water

Distribution: Widespread and abundant in northern and western Britain, especially west Wales, the Pennines and other upland areas of northern England, and in upland Scotland. In the lowlands of southern and eastern England it is much scarcer, probably breeding on heathland and other more acid habitats, although adults may be found some distance from such localities. It is almost absent from most of the English Midlands and rather local in East Anglia

Gordon Pollinger