Partial Success!

I managed to grab a brief session late after work tonight calling in at Highstead to see what butterflies and dragonflies were on the wing. The sunshine that had been present all day had vanished but occasional bits of blue sky could be seen moving over. The temperature was still quite warm but there was a noticeable strong wind which I thought might keep a few dragonflies down and make my mission of finding an Emperor to photograph a little easier. On arrival in a sheltered spot I noticed 1 Large Skipper and 1 Small Tortoiseshell along with Common Blue Damselflies flying low through the grasses. Moving on into the wind I saw a Small Skipper which gave me a few photo opportunities and another was seen a little later.

Small Skipper

As I walked down the path it was obvious that not many dragonflies were on the wing so I decided to have a walk through the long grass to see what was in there and it was also a little more sheltered. A few Meadow Brown flew out and then 2 Emerald Damselflies flew up with one posing briefly for a photo, a handful of Common Darters were seen and 1 Four spotted Chaser allowed a nice view.

Emerald Damselfly

A couple of Black tailed Skimmer were noted and as I nearly got back to the beginning I continually scanned the bottom of the grasses when there it was, a cracking Emperor Dragonfly resting. I was a little too close which I don't often moan about but fired off a few shots and only just about managed to get the whole dragonfly in the shot, such is the size of this beast. Unluckily the sun had gone in and there were grasses in the way but at least as the title suggests, I had partial success at the mission and took a way a few shots of the target species. Hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow and I may be able to grab a brief session.

Emperor Dragonfly