Super 'Scarce' at Sandwich

I spent most of the day yesterday at Sandwich Bay with Terry Laws and Keith Perry, both who had not seen the Kent Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies. In mostly sunny, warm conditions with a light wind, we managed to find 14 Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly which included 2 mating pairs, mature males, an immature male and 2 aurantiaca female forms. We spent plenty of time studying the finer details of the species and took a good number of photographs. I also had a look for some exuviae of this species on the waters edge and found a likely candidate which I have brought home to check. We also saw 2 Lesser Emperor, a male and a female, the female proved very obliging and even sat on my hand for us to have a good look at her. I will post a few photos of this in due coarse. Also seen were plenty of Small Red eyed Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, 1 Dainty Damselfly, Black tailed Skimmer, Emperor Dragonfly, Migrant Hawker, Common and Ruddy Darters. It was nice to find some mating pairs of Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly and we were joined by Adrian Dowling who also appreciated getting some photos of this rare Kent sight. Hopefully the species will continue to hold its own in the area and fingers crossed, continue to be successful here. Hats off to Steffan (SBBO warden) and his team for creating this superb habitat. Who knows what else could appear here in the coming years. With plenty of time spent watching the odonata on offer and lots of photos to check, we called it a day mid afternoon and retired back to the cars. An excellent session once again in great company with plenty of dragonflies and damselflies to occupy our time...perfect. 

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - aurantiaca female immature

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - mating pair