'NEW' Patch Dragonflies

It's seems to have been a good year for a number of species and this continued hot weather has no doubt encouraged more species to travel to our shores from the near continent. Two species that have done well are the Red veined Darter and Lesser Emperor. Both of these species have never been seen on my Nethergong/Chislet Marshes patch in the ten years of watching but with the addition of a reservoir this year, I was keen to monitor to see what species turned up. A few weeks ago I saw my first 5 Red veined Darter on the patch and despite not seeing any females, It would be nice to think that they have egg layed there. A check at the weekend again provided 4 Red veined Darter and 2 Lesser Emperor, a male and a female. Again a new species for the patch. I did take a few record shots but certainly not publishable! As I walked back to the car, I checked a sheltered sunny area and found a few Willow Emerald Damselfly. Despite only having the Canon f4 300 mm lens on, I decided to spend some time trying to capture a few images. It was nice to watch them flying out from the hedges and return with small prey a second later. Just spending time in nature has to be one of the best things ever. There's always something to look at, photograph or just enjoy. With a few weeks off work now, hopefully I can get out a bit to enjoy what nature has to offer.  

Willow Emerald Damselfly - male

Willow Emerald Damselfly - female

Schools Out For Summer!

With the first day of the summer holidays here at last, I decided on a visit to Nethergong to see whether any Southern Migrant Hawkers were on the dried up pools. On arrival at 11:15 in brightening skies, I could only enter one field to check as the other was full of cattle and I'm not that good with them if I'm honest. I made my way towards the dried up pools and thankfully, saw the first of 3 Southern Migrant Hawkers on territory flying continuously up and down. They didn't land in the ninety minutes I was with them so I thought I would attempt some flight shots. This is a good species to capture in flight as they can hover well at times. I did a bit of homework first before attempting a few photos. One of the males had a dangly leg and vigorously chased away anything that attempted to fly through or land in his territory. With a bit of patience, I ended up with a few useable photos. Still some improvements required but a fantastic way to spend a few hours. It certainly beats working! Other bits seen included 2 Norfolk Hawker, 4 Emperor Dragonfly, 2 Black tailed Skimmer, 2 Willow Emerald Damselfly, a few Common Blue Damselfly as well as Common and Ruddy Darter.

Southern Migrant Hawker - male

Willow Time

With most of my weekends over the past few weeks being busy leading Dragonfly tours around various parts of Kent, I have not been out locally to see what is about. I've had the odd Southern Migrant Hawker at Nethergong and I'm hoping that this species will appear again there in better numbers in the next few weeks. I do like photographing a male Southern Migrant Hawker. Whilst having a wander at Nethergong last week, I came across a few Willow Emerald Damselflies which looked like they had not long emerged. I saw a few in a small area and set about trying to get a few useable images to use. They are often very wary when newly emerged so I had to slowly move in to get some photos which I'm quite pleased with. Hopefully in the next few weeks, their numbers will slowly build and I can return to spend some time watching and photographing this cracking species. 

Willow Emerald Damselfly - female

'Keeled' Over!

A couple of weeks ago, I made the trip over to Hothfield Common near Ashford to look for the Keeled Skimmer at its only site in Kent. I visit most years and am always amazed how this species hangs on there in the acidic pools which are very small. Somehow they manage to defy the odds and can be seen in low numbers here. I would hope that they would open up the pools more but every year, there seems to just be a couple of puddles. I arrived in warm sunny conditions late afternoon where on arrival, the heat seemed to be keeping the dragonflies down and probably in the shade. After a search along the boardwalk, I managed to find 3 Keeled Skimmer, all males perched up. Luckily they were close enough for me to get a few images after I had done some stalking. A smart species and one that I hope continues to grow in number at this site in the future. 

Yesterday (Sunday), I led a private dragonfly tour for two clients at New Hythe in warm sunny conditions where we noted 30+ Lesser Emperor, 5+ Emperor Dragonfly, 6 Norfolk Hawker, 3 Brown Hawker and a good supporting cast of Common Blue, Blue tailed, Red Eyed and Small Red eyed Damselfly along with Black tailed Skimmer, Ruddy Darter, 1 Downy Emerald, Banded and 1 Beautiful Demoiselle. A really nice day in excellent company. 

Keeled Skimmer - male