The 'Gold' Medal of Dragonflies

Last Friday in hot conditions, I made the drive over to a small stream in West Kent near Sissinghurst to hopefully catch up with the Golden ringed Dragonfly. On arrival around midday, I parked up and stood over the small bridge looking at the stream below. Immediately, I could see a number of Banded Demoiselle and Beautiful Demoiselle and then a few White legged Damselflies were seen. After a few minutes the first of 3 Golden ringed Dragonfly seen over a few hours flew low up the stream before venturing down soon after. This is one of those dragonflies that just has to be seen. In Kent, a scarce large black dragonfly with golden rings gracefully flying up and down a quiet stream. Most walkers and drivers going over the bridge will be unaware of what beauty flies below. Having seen my target, I wanted to get some closer views and hopefully a photo or two. This site is always pretty overgrown so after performing a little gardening to access the field, I set about trying to get down nearer the stream. There are only a few areas that you can get quite close to the stream so I spent a little time walking up and down the area, stopping every now and then to peer over the grasses to see whether I could see any perching up or flying. After a bit of homework, I found a couple of perched individuals that seemed quite happy in the area and slowly getting into a position, I was able to fire off a few shots. Most of the time I was perched at awkward angles, but the prize of photographing this dragonfly drove me on to capture them. Occasionally, they would come closer and I was able to spend some time studying their beautiful colours and details. When they had captured prey, they seemed quite content for you to get nearer. There were also a few Large Red Damselfly on the stream too. With a few hours now passed and some lovely memories and hopefully photos taken, I made my way back to the hot car. A superb few hours in the company of one of Britain's best dragonflies. 

Golden ringed Dragonfly - male