Some Walk by Night, Some Fly by Day

I had the week off to get some jobs completed at home, but apart from the trip to Brighton, I was hoping to sneak out for the odd moment to catch up on some recommendations and to revisit some old haunts in the hope of a surprise or two?
I didn't need to venture far for the surprise. In our garden, a Plain Tiger butterfly that is normally found in and around the Mediterranean, turned up.

 A stunning creature that I had visit our garden a couple of months ago, believing then it had arrived with the Painted Lady influx at the time from the continent. I have since learned a chap down our street rears butterflies for a living and this could well be the result...an escapee. Not something I wholly agree with but still beautiful nonetheless 

 Summer weather was finally with us and the full moon in the sultry evenings proved spectacular. 

The next day, having put some effort into finally finishing our front door I had made, I decided a long brunch was in order, so I popped back to Whiteley Pastures in the vain hope of seeing a Purple Emperor butterfly. The flight season is drawing to a close so even though I usually go with high hopes, in the back of my mind I had doubts....

 My first Butterfly was the Speckled Wood looking resplendent in the dappled sunlight through the trees 

 Dragonflies patrol the path regularly here and up until now they have all been Southern Hawkers. This time I happened upon one of my favourites and my first sighting this year of a Golden Ringed Dragonfly. I know they stop often and hang from a perch. I waited patiently until it did just that.

 Halfway along the main track is the small bridge over the stream where Beautiful Demoiselles' have been a regular sighting, today being no exception. This one male was all I found.
I walked to the ridge in the hope of an Emperor...no luck there.
Red Admirals had been around in numbers the week before and in double figures. Just 4 today plus my first sighting for a while of a Brimstone. This must be the second brood for this year putting in an appearance.

My 2 hour walk didn't produce an Emperor and having met a friend Geoff as I left, no one else had had much luck either. Maybe I will have to wait until next year now?

 I arrived home for lunch. Measured up for the renewal of the decking in the garden and headed off to the timber yard to collect some.
I just so happens to be next to one of the Forts that surround the area. This particular example is Fort Brockhurst, one of a number built in the 1850's and 1860's after the Napoleonic Wars to repel any further French invasions. This one situated slightly inland, adjacent to a busy road linking Gosport to Fareham.
As with all of them, they are a refuge for wildlife and have become mini nature reserves. This one especially so with it's own moat... 

   I had a tip off from my friend Dave who had reports of very rare Damselfly here...

As I looked down on the fishing platform where they had been seen, Mute Swans were feeding nearby with their cygnets. Not a good start, no point going there, so I continued round until I found another place that looked promising...

 A great start. My first ever view of a Red Eyed Damselfly. They were here in numbers but not the rarest and not my main objective.
A Blue Tailed this time, still not what I was searching for...

More Red Eyed

 As I sat on the platform next to the water, a Grey Heron drifted in and landed in front of me.

I scanned the moat for my quarry...

Eventually the Damselfly I was searching for turned up, this is a Small Red Eyed, and before you say it looks exactly like the Red Eyed, I'd say the same, but upon closer inspection, it has different markings on the tail, is smaller and is also extremely rare in the UK. A great find. We have Mr Kevin Ilsley to thank as he monitors this area and found them.  

Not only were they in the moat, they were flying around the oaks that lined the edges of the water too.

 The Mute Swans I avoided around the eastern side of the Fort came round to visit me...

 I was so engrossed in photographing the Damselflies, I failed to notice a pair of Coot nest building not 10 feet from me in the reeds. The male seen here delivering some fresh nest material..

 The female kept a close eye on me, but knew they were well out of reach

 The Grey Heron still patrolled the water margins in search of food

 It landed and looked into the moat for a possible patch to descend to feed....

It took a leap of faith and no sooner had it landed, it shot up again in alarm. My first thought was it was too deep for even it's extraordinary long legs....

 As it rose from the water, it had collected a rather pretty pond weed necklace..very fetching!

 Upon close inspection, it seemed the Heron had been chased off by an irate Coot protecting it's territory. Never ever mess with an irate Coot...

 I decided to carry on around the Fort after such frivolity!
The walls to the main building gave interesting reflections in the water...

I thought this one laid on it's side gave the impression of a Dragonfly's head.

The walls to the Fort itself are encased in soil and grass, great insulation but I reckon it must be fairly damp too?
Trying to capture either Dragonflies of Damselfies in flight is always a challenge, and one I try not to shirk.
These Damselfly were distant and the shots acceptable, but I like the reflection in the water 

Dragonflies were constant here too. This is an Emperor Dragonfly. Not the right type of species I wanted to see today but an Emperor nonetheless.

I had almost circuited the Fort and reached where I had parked the van. I kept thinking I must dash off to pick up the timber but I couldn't drag myself away. It reminded me of being a child when I was walking home from school one day. I'd stopped to watch the swans on the river and before I knew it I was very late in getting home. My Mum thought I'd been kidnapped! Truth is I had been... by Nature.

 I was near the van but another Emperor Dragonfly said me, me, photograph me! I duly attempted to...

The only trouble was, it refused to face me. So, reasonable shots of a Dragonfly's bottom!

That was that, time was running out so I picked up the timber in the van and still not satisfied, I headed to the old car park Chris and I had visited on the weekend to see what was around....after all it was just around the corner...

 Not the sort of place you would expect to find anything of interest. I found evidence of Homosapien behaviour here too, lots of empty beer cans and skins!

   Just around the side is a pathway leading to a gate. This gate was clearly the Comma's gate and he defended it with bravado. I managed to get very close with the lens but the closer I got, so the Comma advanced towards me as if to warn me off his gate. He even jumped onto my lens hood at one stage. What a character!

 Notice the 'comma' mark on the underwing

 It disappeared for a while so I was drawn to the many umbels that flowered here..

 Lots of Ragwort too that a Small White was feeding on

The Comma had returned. Notice how it uses only four legs to stand and holds the other two aloft

 This beautiful little Butterfly had me captivated. Time was ticking and I could hear my Mum from all those years ago saying 'Where are you?' I was hooked though and would stay til dusk but commitments told me otherwise. I withdrew with a huge smile on my face. Nothing like a bit of moonlighting! 

   N.B
The title of this post is from a lyric to the song 'Moonlighting' by Al Jarreau