Super Sandwich!

With a day of warm temperatures and quite light winds forecast, I had arranged to carry out a survey of the dragonflies and damselflies at various private sites at Sandwich Bay with the warden, Steffan. Arriving at 10am in glorious warm sunshine, we spent about five hours walking around some of the private pools that can be found within the local area and found an excellent variety of species. The days highlights included 17 Southern Migrant Hawker including a pair in tandem and no doubt, about to oviposit into one of the dry ditches. I believe this is the first time a female Southern Migrant Hawker has been seen in the recording area.

 

Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) - male

 

Also noted nearby were 5 Scarce Emerald Damselfly and 7 Southern Emerald Damselfly. In one small dried up pool of only a few metres in diameter, we saw a male Southern Migrant Hawker patrolling and both Scarce and Southern Emerald Damselfly. Quite a sight I assure you to have these rare dragonflies and damselflies close together.

 

 Scarce Emerald Damselfly (Lestes Dryas) - male

Southern Emerald Damselfly (Lestes barbarus)

 

Other pools also held plenty of Emperor Dragonfly, Black tailed Skimmer, a teneral Migrant Hawker, Common Blue Damselfly and 10+ Small red eyed Damselfly. As we slowly made our way back a Brown Hawker was seen and having thanked Steffan for giving up his time and taking me around the area, I spent the last hour on my own at a pool where I found 4 male Red veined Darter. I was able to spend some time slowly stalking them and obtaining a few nice photos of a species I haven't seen for a few years. A brilliant day in excellent company at a superb place for odonata with a number of very special species noted and a few pleasing images taken. Happy days!

 

Red veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) - male

 



Kent Lesser Emperors

I received a message last night from a fellow Odonata enthusiast that he had found 3 Lesser Emperor at a private site in Kent. It's been at least 5 years since I last saw a Lesser Emperor and only have a few distant record shots of this species so after a few emails, I arranged to meet this morning at the site at 10am. Thankfully on arrival the sun was just coming through nicely and throughout the next couple of hours, the weather improved making for a nice morning session. I was taken to a few of the hotspots where not long after, we saw the first of 3 male Lesser Emperor today flying by showing off that lovely blue saddle. A few more views were obtained from the area before we moved on to new areas to search. We spent some time checking others likely areas before we reached and area where 2 male Lesser Emperor were seen chasing each other. One of the males stayed in the area and I was willing him to land which after what seemed an age, he finally come to rest on a reed stem allowing me to grab a few rushed shots looking unfortunately directly into the sunshine. Nevertheless, I was happy to have finally managed at least a shot of this still quite rare species.

 

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) - male

 

With the Emperor still perched up, I decided to get around the other side of it which would give me the sun behind meaning hopefully some better shots. I had to make my way through some reeds to get there but eventually I could see my prize in much better light and took a few initial photos before moving slowly forward again. I had a clear view by now and decided not to chance my luck and spent a few minutes taking in the details on this species and taking a few photos.

 

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) - male

 

After a while he was off again to patrol and we decided after our luck to move off back to the cars. Other bits seen included a couple of Emperor Dragonflies, 2 Brown Hawker, a few Black tailed Skimmers and many Red eyed Damselfly over the water. On the way back home I called into Oare Marshes for an hour or so where despite sunshine and a strong breeze, I only managed to find 5 Southern Migrant Hawker, all males on patrol with one landing briefly for a few photos.

 

Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) - male

 

Quite a bit of the habitat has overgrown now in some areas and I'm hoping that they don't disappear as quick as they appeared in the past few years. Fingers crossed that their numbers continue to grow in the next few weeks. I shall return! Also seen here were hundreds of Ruddy Darter, 2 Emperor Dragonfly, and 1 Brown Hawker. The summer holidays have now arrived so I'm looking forward to a few sessions out in the next few weeks. Here's hoping for sunny skies and light winds!

Busy Times Are Here!

I was up and out of the house this morning just after 4am where a few minutes later I arrived at Nethergong where I spent a few hours wandering around. With the site now full of campers, I try to do a few circuits of the site before most people wake up. It was generally pretty quiet on the bird front with a Barn Owl seen early on and a Kingfisher flew down the stream. It was nice to hear a Willow Warbler in partial song which I haven't heard hear this year. My first walk along the stream with the monopod brushing the reeds and grasses didn't provide any Willow Emerald Damselfly but as the weather warmed up and I tried a little later, I was able to see 23 Willow Emerald Damselfly making their maiden flight from the stream. While most flew straight to the trees, a few stopped in the grasses with one landing on some sort of Daisy which provided me with a few shots as she peered over them at me.

 

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis)

 

A few more were in the grasses and I could not help myself as the camera once again come into action.

 

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) - female

 

With a Brown Hawker also noted along with 2 newly emerged Migrant Hawker at the pond and a few Emerald Damselfly and Blue tailed Damselfly noted, I made my way home before the smell of bacon got to me. Around midday, I drove over to Oare Marshes for and hour and spent my time checking the areas around the East and West Floods for dragonflies. In particular it was very pleasing to see 7 Southern Migrant Hawker patrolling the ditches and it's great news that they have returned again this year. I took a few shots but none perched but with the summer holidays coming up for me in a few days time, I'm hoping to return on a few occasions to make the most of this most stunning dragonfly and see whether I can do it justice with the camera. Although a number of areas are overgrown for them now which is a bit worrying, there did seem to be a few areas where they can egg lay and keep the cycle going. Fingers crossed for some good weather hopefully and their numbers should build over the next few weeks.

A Trip For The Southern Emerald Damselfly

It's been 6 years since I last saw the nationally rare Southern Emerald Damselfly and I thought that it was about time that I reacquainted my self with this species this year. With a small colony in Kent at Cliffe Marshes and with a few being reported there in the past few weeks, I arranged to meet up with Frank Cackett who knows this area like the back of his hand. Yesterday after work at 15:30 I cycled home very quickly to get the car and with the sun still just about shining, I made the 40 minute drive to the reserve where after a walk along the main track, Frank arrived soon after. It wasn't too long until we were in the area near the seawall where we started scanning through the long grasses where they can often be seen. The sun was quite warm and the winds getting lighter so our chances looked good and this proved the case as we almost simultaneously both found the first of 6 Southern Emerald Damselfly seen today quite close to each other. They can often be recognised by their metallic green bodies which turn gold with age but one key feature is the bi-coloured pterostigma on the wings which shows up very well. After having a quick look through the binoculars, I was keen to try for a few photos and so slowly moved in with the camera and took a few initial shots. They were quite wary and often moved between the grasses but eventually I managed a few pleasing images. We continued on checking the edge of the grasses where we found a further 4 more Southern Emerald Damselfly resting in the grasses. A few more images taken but with the wind still blowing, it was always a challenge to get them all in focus. As always, I made sure I made time to have a good study of this species which I hadn't seen for many years but it was well worth the trip to this fantastic part of Kent. We only looked for an hour or so but I would imagine a few more hours earlier in the day would produce better numbers of this species which surely must be lurking in areas which have no access to be checked. With good views obtained and a few photos to look at, we made our way back to the car and off home. My thanks to Frank for giving up his time to meet me and show me the area well and off course, finding the target species.

 

 Southern Emerald Damselfly (Lestes barbarus) - female

Southern Emerald Damselfly (Lestes barbarus) - male

 



The BEST Emergence Photos

It's been just over 5 years that I first photographed my first Emperor Dragonfly emerging and since then I have been lucky enough to photograph a good variety of other species emerging. Every emergence is special in its own way and it's just a privilege to be able to sit and study this before your eyes. The photos are always an added bonus to the spectacle but as ever, I try to achieve the best shots I can in the different circumstances I come across. With a few Emperor Dragonfly nymphs in my pond I was hopeful this year of seeing and photographing one emerging and the past few nights have seen me constantly checking the vegetation just in case. It was Thursday night around 21:50 that I went out to the pond with the torch to check again. The night was still, mild and no wind and I felt that this was a perfect night to emerge on. I was in luck as an Emperor Dragonfly nymph had climbed up some of the grasses as the edge of the pond and was in the process of thrashing its abdomen around to make sure there was enough clearance to emerge. I went inside and got all the necessary equipment and made my way outside again knowing I could be out there for a few hours. I stayed back as I normally do to let it settle and then moved slowly in and set up. It was a perfect night to be out, except for the midges which were winding me up every few seconds but after a while, even they got few up of me. I had a really pleasing view through the viewfinder of the grasses and then the blackness of the sky. I often like these backgrounds as it shows the subject off well and also provides me with that sense of the dragonfly emerging in the darkness. After a further wait the nymph skin started to crack at the back of the thorax and the emergence had begun. I sat there for a good hour or so photographing what has to be my best ever set of emergence photos. Whilst I am often hard to please and can be quite critical of my own photos, these are a set I will find hard to beat and am over the moon with. Thankfully all went well and I left the Emperor Dragonfly in peace and made my way to bed just before midnight. A check in the morning revealed just the exuviae there and a nice reminder of what had been a most fantastic experience again.

 

 



Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) - female emerging

 



Stalking In The Grass

The Willow Emerald Damselfly season has started a good 10 days earlier than last year and I'm already making the most of my early morning visits. A few visits last weekend saw a few emerging and making their maiden flights where often they fly straight to the trees and are lost to view but a number will fly and land in the tall grasses next to the stream. This gives me the opportunity to creep up and take a few shots before they continue their flight towards the trees where they will mature up over the next few weeks. Sunday morning saw a very brief window of sunshine and it was nice to see a few Willow Emerald Damselfly land in an area where there are a few poppies and other wild flowers growing which immediately gave me the idea of trying to capture one with a flower in the background. If nothing else, it would look a bit arty and colourful and certainly wake the photo up. The slightly tricky thing was getting into a position with the tripod and camera where I could do this but after a bit of faffing around, I was able to start taking a few pleasing images of the shot I had in mind. After about 15 minutes the sun disappeared and it never was seen again during the session. A continued walk through the grasses for a hundred yards or so produced a few more Willow Emerald Damselfly flying out of the grasses but it's still a little early I suspect to get the bigger numbers emerging. Hopefully with better weather forecast for this weekend, I may get lucky and see a number emerging and making their maiden flights. Despite being at work this week, I did have an early morning session earlier in the week at Nethergong where I was able to take a few more photos which I shall post in due coarse. I also need to try to fit in sessions at Oare, Sandwich and Cliffe during the next few weeks to see a few more species. There's not enough time... aaaaahhhhhhh!

 



Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) - female



A New Life Begins

Over the weekend, I decided to have an outdoor session with my tank at Nethergong where after a few minutes of netting at the stream, I had collected a few Willow Emerald Damselfly nymphs. I had already set up the tank with water and a little weed and then set about trying to capture a few pleasing shots of the nymphs. It's always a little tricky doing this outdoors as there are many issues that can go wrong but despite these, I managed to take a few very pleasing shots. With 2 nymphs kept, I decided to then bring them home to see whether I could photograph one emerging. I kept them in the tank next to the pond and put a stick in it so they could emerge and then checked it throughout the evening. Around 10pm when I went out to check the tank, I could see one of the nymphs had already climbed up the stem and was preparing to emerge. I was quickly into action and set about getting all the gear ready at the pond and then settled in for a hopeful emergence. There is something quite magical about sitting in the darkness watching an emergence but the ever present midges were enough to keep me occupied. It wasn't too long until the nymph started to emerge and then during the next hour, I watched once again as the Willow Emerald Damselfly emerged and began to pump up its wings followed by its abdomen. It was just before 11:30pm that I was finally making my way to bed. I was up the next morning early where I collected the damselfly and drove the few minutes to Nethergong where the damselfly was released in the same area where the nymph was collected. A visit tonight produced a few more Willow Emerald Damselfly flying from the grasses to the trees at the stream and 3 Norfolk Hawker and 1 Emperor Dragonfly were also at the stream. Fingers crossed for some nice weather at the weekend where hopefully I can return to once again spend time with one of my favourite species.

 

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) Nymph

 

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) - emerging female