LINDOW COMMON

Wildlife Explorers braved another poor weather forecast to investigate invertebrate life at Lindow Common. Luckily the rain held off and with Ranger Paul Hughes on hand to help us explore, even the cool, damp weather didn't prevent us from finding lots of minibeasts.

Parents helped with the bug hunting too and amongst a huge list of species we saw Azure Damselflies, a Large Red Damselfly, a Magpie moth, a Chestnut moth, Dock-leaf beetles, Buff-tailed bumble-bees, Yellow dung flies, a Wood wasp and a whole host of spiders (including Wolf spiders and a Comb-footed spider).

Damselfly.

We also saw lots of wild flowers including - Marsh orchid, Yellow flag, Bog asphodel,
and best of all an insect-eating plant - the Sundew!

Marsh Orchid                                                                   Yellow flag.

Sundew.

Dragonfly expert Trish Thomson was on hand to identify dragonflies and explain how adult dragonflies emerge.

Exuvia (the empty body case is left behind when the larva metamorphoses into an adult dragonfly).