A 'Common' Study

After spending a couple of hours at Reculver getting blown down the seawall in a strong westerly wind and not seeing much for my troubles, I thought as it was quite sunny that I would drive inland a little and see if I could find any dragonflies sheltering. I soon arrived and after having a drink of coffee out of the trusty flask I took a walk around. It was still very windy but I found a few sheltered areas and here I found some Common Darters basking in the sun. Out of the wind it was actually quite warm and I spent some time on my belly getting a number of shots of some 'over mature' Common Darters. They let me get quite close and it was nice to be able to study them at close range and take in all the details.

'Over Mature' Female Common Darter

Moving on I eventually found c15 Common Darters and no doubt a few more went unnoticed. I found a pair in tandem which provided a nice photo opportunity and nearby were 2 Common Blue Damselfly, one of them allowing me to get a number of images which I shall post in the next few days.

Common Darters in Tandem

A check of some likely areas provided just 1 Willow Emerald Damselfly, a female which was good to see. This prompted me to have a look for the ovipositing galls or scars that are made when the female is egg laying. I found quite a few on the branches over hanging the water and will post a few shots in due course. Again a very rewarding session, nice to see a few dragonflies and get a few images of them. Weather permitting, hopefully another session somewhere tomorrow!

'Over Mature' Female Common Darter