The Keeled Skimmers of Kent

Its been a good few years since I last visited Hothfield Common near Ashford to see Kent's only site for the Keeled Skimmer so after a message from my odo friend, Mike Hook who had seen a few there, I decided to give it a go last weekend when the forecast seemed pretty good. I arrived on site about 10am where I was greeted with very warm sunshine but quite breezy conditions. I walked on down to the area which has a wooden boardwalk going out through the bog and spent the next 2 hours searching the bog and nearby bushes. It was initially quite tricky to see much as the breeze was quite strong but eventually, I got my eye in and saw up to 12 Keeled Skimmer flying out over the water and a few tenerals were noted in the nearby grasses and bushes. I only saw one female briefly ovipositing before a male arrived and she flew off out of sight. Its east to forget how small this species is but I was able to spent some time studying their features and taking a number of photos as they posed in the sunshine. With a few photos obtained, I put the camera down and spent a while searching the waters edge for any exuviae. I do not have any of this species and was not expecting to find any but after a good search, I finally managed to see one and carefully removed for my collection, a right result which I shall photograph in due coarse. Other bits seen included 1 Banded Demoiselle, 1 Emperor Dragonfly, 1 probable Broad bodied Chaser and a few Azure and Large Red Damselfly noted. A lovely few hours spent at this excellent site which I hope continues to manage the area for the Keeled Skimmer and other species.

Keeled Skimmer (male) 

Keeled Skimmer (immature male) 

Keeled Skimmer (male) 

Keeled Skimmer (immature male)