The 'Gold' Medal of Dragonflies

Last Friday in hot conditions, I made the drive over to a small stream in West Kent near Sissinghurst to hopefully catch up with the Golden ringed Dragonfly. On arrival around midday, I parked up and stood over the small bridge looking at the stream below. Immediately, I could see a number of Banded Demoiselle and Beautiful Demoiselle and then a few White legged Damselflies were seen. After a few minutes the first of 3 Golden ringed Dragonfly seen over a few hours flew low up the stream before venturing down soon after. This is one of those dragonflies that just has to be seen. In Kent, a scarce large black dragonfly with golden rings gracefully flying up and down a quiet stream. Most walkers and drivers going over the bridge will be unaware of what beauty flies below. Having seen my target, I wanted to get some closer views and hopefully a photo or two. This site is always pretty overgrown so after performing a little gardening to access the field, I set about trying to get down nearer the stream. There are only a few areas that you can get quite close to the stream so I spent a little time walking up and down the area, stopping every now and then to peer over the grasses to see whether I could see any perching up or flying. After a bit of homework, I found a couple of perched individuals that seemed quite happy in the area and slowly getting into a position, I was able to fire off a few shots. Most of the time I was perched at awkward angles, but the prize of photographing this dragonfly drove me on to capture them. Occasionally, they would come closer and I was able to spend some time studying their beautiful colours and details. When they had captured prey, they seemed quite content for you to get nearer. There were also a few Large Red Damselfly on the stream too. With a few hours now passed and some lovely memories and hopefully photos taken, I made my way back to the hot car. A superb few hours in the company of one of Britain's best dragonflies. 

Golden ringed Dragonfly - male

Southern Emerald Damselfly (Part 2)

I thought having taken a few hundred photos the other day of the Southern Emerald Damselfly, that I would post a few more shots to show off some of their identification features. Probably one of the most obvious features are the bi-coloured pterostigma which stand out well. The anal appendages on the male are quite white and there is also an isolated spot on the side of the thorax. With some patience and fieldcraft, you can sometimes get quite close and when they do fly, they often fly just a short distance. I tend to find them in dried up ditches but with so much land not viewable to the general public, I suspect that more are out there. Whilst they have a few loyal places in Kent where they can often be seen, they do often wander and only a day or so again, an individual was found in a garden on the North coast in Whitstable. A migrant or a local wanderer, I suppose that is the question. I would like to think that this species can continue to thrive in its current locations and even spread to pastures new. Either way, it's certainly a cracking good damselfly to study and photograph.

Showing the bi-coloured pterostigma

Showing the bi-coloured pterostigma

Southern Emerald Damselfly - male

Southern Emerald Damselfly (Part 1)

I had a 'wellbeing' day off work Friday where I spent most of the day touring a few Kent sites to see some of the rarer species that Kent has to offer. The plan was to visit Cliffe RSPB for Southern Emerald Damselfly, West Kent for Golden ringed Dragonfly and Hothfield Common for Keeled Skimmer. In very hot conditions, I was successful in seeing all the target species but this post will feature my first stop of the day to look for the Southern Emerald Damselfly at Cliffe. I arrived at 08:00 and walked the 30 minutes to one of the areas where they are usually seen. Frustratingly, there were quite a few livestock in the fields and the farmers were not too far away, so I couldn't really check some of the ditches that I normally would have. I spent a couple of hours searching some of the dried up ditches where I managed to find 3 Southern Emerald Damselfly. I think these have to be my favourite damselfly, stunning to look at and quite rare nationally as well. With the macro lens on, I then set about trying to get a few images to show off this species and after finding a showy individual, I was able to move in and spend some time photographing from different angles. The bi-coloured pterostigma stood out well with the eye initially when I first found them and is a good identification feature if you are unsure of your larger Emerald damselflies. With c300 photos taken and the temperature getting warmer, I decided to make the journey back to the car and move on to the second site of the day. I will probably post some more shots of the Southern Emerald Damselflies in due coarse as there are hopefully a number of other pleasing images to share. 

Southern Emerald Damselfly - male

Red Arrows in North Kent!

With a number of Red veined Darters being seen on a pool at Swanscombe Marshes, I thought I would give it a go yesterday and after getting some excellent directions from Barry Wright, I made the 50 minute trip arriving about 09:30. I thought I would wouldn't be there too long but the weather as ever had other ideas. I soon found the pool and had a wander around in breezy and cloudy conditions which was not at all ideal. The next hour, the weather continued to be against me and I thought I was going to draw a blank with this superb little red darter but the weather very slowly showed some improvement. Eventually a couple of hours after arriving, I found the first of at lest 15 Red veined Darters. All of a sudden, the pool come to life with males flying out over the water chasing each other and then returning to the shore where they perched on the warming floor. This gave me the chance at last to try for a few photos and in the next hour, I was able to get some lovely views and appreciate their finer detail and get a few pleasing images. Three pairs were seen in tandem ovipositing but there could well be more at this site than I counted easily. Also seen were 1 Lesser Emperor, c10 Black tailed Skimmer, 1 Emperor Dragonfly and a few Blue tailed and Common Blue Damselfly. What started off as a tough morning was soon forgotten with plenty of dragonfly action over the pool. On my way back home I called in at a very breezy Oare Marshes for an hour where I found c25 Scarce Emerald Damselfly, 1 Emerald Damselfly, 10 Dainty Damselfly which included 6 tenerals. It seems they are still emerging so hopefully their numbers will be a bit more encouraging in a week or two. With the weather not too good this week, it was good to get out and have a bit of sunshine for once this week. Back to work next week so back to weekend visits again weather permitting. 

Red veined Darter - male