Kent Lesser Emperors

I received a message last night from a fellow Odonata enthusiast that he had found 3 Lesser Emperor at a private site in Kent. It's been at least 5 years since I last saw a Lesser Emperor and only have a few distant record shots of this species so after a few emails, I arranged to meet this morning at the site at 10am. Thankfully on arrival the sun was just coming through nicely and throughout the next couple of hours, the weather improved making for a nice morning session. I was taken to a few of the hotspots where not long after, we saw the first of 3 male Lesser Emperor today flying by showing off that lovely blue saddle. A few more views were obtained from the area before we moved on to new areas to search. We spent some time checking others likely areas before we reached and area where 2 male Lesser Emperor were seen chasing each other. One of the males stayed in the area and I was willing him to land which after what seemed an age, he finally come to rest on a reed stem allowing me to grab a few rushed shots looking unfortunately directly into the sunshine. Nevertheless, I was happy to have finally managed at least a shot of this still quite rare species.

 

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) - male

 

With the Emperor still perched up, I decided to get around the other side of it which would give me the sun behind meaning hopefully some better shots. I had to make my way through some reeds to get there but eventually I could see my prize in much better light and took a few initial photos before moving slowly forward again. I had a clear view by now and decided not to chance my luck and spent a few minutes taking in the details on this species and taking a few photos.

 

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) - male

 

After a while he was off again to patrol and we decided after our luck to move off back to the cars. Other bits seen included a couple of Emperor Dragonflies, 2 Brown Hawker, a few Black tailed Skimmers and many Red eyed Damselfly over the water. On the way back home I called into Oare Marshes for an hour or so where despite sunshine and a strong breeze, I only managed to find 5 Southern Migrant Hawker, all males on patrol with one landing briefly for a few photos.

 

Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) - male

 

Quite a bit of the habitat has overgrown now in some areas and I'm hoping that they don't disappear as quick as they appeared in the past few years. Fingers crossed that their numbers continue to grow in the next few weeks. I shall return! Also seen here were hundreds of Ruddy Darter, 2 Emperor Dragonfly, and 1 Brown Hawker. The summer holidays have now arrived so I'm looking forward to a few sessions out in the next few weeks. Here's hoping for sunny skies and light winds!