Tracking Down Mr Hairy!

Having seen a number of emerging and teneral Hairy Dragonflies so far in the past few weeks, it was time for me to find a few mature male Hairy Dragonflies so during the bank holiday weekend, I made a few visits to Shuart near Reculver which often has a good number of species. On my first visit, I was able to find 3 Hairy Dragonfly but other than a few brief photographs in amongst foliage, they often spent most of their time quite high up in the tree tops. I also encountered a few Azure and Blue tailed Damselflies in the same area. I returned Monday afternoon in the warm sunshine where I spent an hour or so walking around the area and managed to find 6 Hairy Dragonfly (5 male) patrolling the paths and landing occasionally. Like the first Swallow arriving, I always look forward to seeing the male Hairy Dragonfly, not only as its the first true dragonfly that we see in this country but the colours are beautiful on this species. They have quite a short flight period compared to the other hawkers so getting out to see, study and photograph them is a must at this time of the year. After searching various sunny spots, I found a male which was hunting and occasionally would fly back to the same area to feed so with this in mind, I waited nearby and thankfully, he flew in and landed which enabled me to move in slowly and rattle off a few pleasing efforts. I also made the time once I had a few photos in the bag to study in detail the markings and colours on these stunning dragonflies. I also managed to see my first Broad bodied Chaser of the year along with a few Azure Damselfly. I'm sure weather permitting, I will make a few more visits over the next few weekends to enjoy seeing the Hairy Dragonflies and other species flying.

 





Hairy Dragonfly (male)