I had a three hour window to get out today and despite the 20mph gusty winds, the forecast was for some warm sunshine with temperatures around twenty degrees celsius. I wanted to see how the Willow Emerald Damselflies were fairing since my last visit and despite the afore mentioned strong wind, I managed to find a creditable 31 Willow Emerald Damselfly. I would suspect if I had stayed longer and the wind had been not so strong that I would have seen quite a few more as there were a few areas I didn't look at. Nonetheless, it always nice to be able to see the males on territory and pairs in tandem flying up the stream to their next location to oviposit. Also seen today were 100+ Common Darter and when the sun finally got some heat in it, they seemed to be everywhere. The stream had continual pairs flying in and out to oviposit and a number of males were seen basking as well as a few mating pairs noted. There were c15 Migrant Hawker on the wing and visiting a few sheltered warm areas revealed a few basking in the sunshine. I spent some time here enjoying the sights and sounds and couldn't resist a few photos of a male Migrant Hawker which allowed quite a close approach for me to study and photograph. I doubt I will be out tomorrow so will have to wait another week until my next visit to see what's about. Hopefully by then, it will be sunny, warm and windless. We can but hope!
Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) - male
Fantastic Marc. I love the close ups, perfection.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Bob. Nice to see them still about in good numbers.
DeleteAgain superb photography and excellent detail Marc.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Mike, much appreciated. Making the most of these little opportunities while I can. They will all be gone too soon.
DeleteWell up to your usual excellent standards, Marc. Managed to catch up with a few Migrants myself on Thursday, although the conditions weren't good (very breezy), and I was being buzzed by hornets whilst trying to photograph them - scary! I suspect that this latest cold windy spell may mean that I've seen my last for the year. Fingers are crossed, however!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Richard. Hopefully the season is not quite done for us yet. Seem to be a few Vagrant Emperors appearing. Now that would be nice.
DeleteSo, like in my experience, sometimes I'd flick on and off the lights because I kept on worrying about "accidentally" sending my entire family to hell (which can't happen, yeah, but it's also a terrible feeling), even though there's no logical connection to religion and lightbulbs. And if you don't do the "thing," then you'll feel terribly guilty about it. good business practices
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