Monday 22 July 2013

Golden Wonder!

Having spent quite a few hours at the weekend looking for Golden Ringed Dragonfly at Thursley Common without any success I was hoping that I would get another chance to see this dragonfly, a species I have never seen and in my opinion 'the dragonfly to see'. If you birdwatch, you want to see a Golden Eagle, if you look for butterflies, you want to see a Purple Emperor and if you like dragonflies, the one to see is the Golden ringed Dragonfly! There are only a couple of sites in Kent that host this species and one of these is Sissinghurst. Alan Pavey and Mike Hook had both seen them there and so I arranged to meet Mike Hook there late today for a personal tour. After meeting Mike he took me straight to the area concerned and within minutes 1 Golden Ringed Dragonfly flew by just above water level and moved out of sight. Pleased with this we moved on walking past the lake which had 3 Downy Emerald and 1 Brown Hawker. Mike took me to a very pretty site with a small stream running through some woodland where he had photographed one the other day. We started scanning the stream when I saw a Golden Ringed Dragonfly fly past again but thankfully this one stayed around and eventually landed causing a camera frenzy on my part.


Male Golden ringed Dragonfly

I was not to be disappointed as this Dragonfly was everything I wanted it to be, a stunning insect. I managed to get a number of shots from different angles as did Mike when another one appeared, yes there were now 2 Golden Ringed Dragonfly. They had the occasional fight and then the original male would again check his patch out and land one more for more shots.


Male Golden Ringed Dragonfly

After much studying we left them in peace and on the way back noted lots of Beautiful Demoiselles, 1 Ruddy Darter, 1 Four spotted Chaser, 5 Brown Hawker, 3 Black tailed Skimmer and a few White Admirals. A superb few hours and a most worthwhile trip. Many thanks to Mike Hook for his knowledge and showing me these lovely dragonflies, it was much appreciated.


Male Golden Ringed dragonfly

9 comments:

  1. Brilliant dragonflies to see, Marc, and superb photos as usual.

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  2. Some cracking photos Marc and so glad you enjoyed the tour. No doubt the cheque is in the post !

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  3. beautiful colors on this dragonfly

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  4. Fantastic pics Marc, really glad my patch turned up the goods for you :-)

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    1. That's a great patch you have there with a lot to see no doubt, the only problem......... Hundreds of people everywhere!!!

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  5. Fantastic Marc!
    When we are lucky enough to find one or 2 in a spot, you just have to wait where they perch since they come back regularly!
    You shots are brilliant and sharp, just the way I like!
    You can even see clearly the 5 celled anal triangle on the hind wing's base of this male!
    Also, I am very jealous of your Black darters...
    In August, we will travel further east in the south of France to try and get pictures of them and of S. pedemontanum!
    One other thing... You seem passionate enough (and your pics are of such quality) that I would be honoured if you'd join us on "Libellules de France et d'Ailleurs" (Dragonflies from France and elsewhere) to publish your articles?...
    A copy/paste would be enough!
    I'll try to put the link here... if it works...

    <a href="http://odonatas69a.blogspot.fr/>http://odonatas69a.blogspot</a>

    Cheers Marc!

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  6. OK, as I thought it doesn't work, go figure out why?!!!
    But you can still have a look!

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  7. I Think you put it very well Marc, This Dragon is THE one to see :-) You've caught it fantastically mate :-)

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