Schools Out For Summer!

With the first day of the summer holidays here at last, I decided on a visit to Nethergong to see whether any Southern Migrant Hawkers were on the dried up pools. On arrival at 11:15 in brightening skies, I could only enter one field to check as the other was full of cattle and I'm not that good with them if I'm honest. I made my way towards the dried up pools and thankfully, saw the first of 3 Southern Migrant Hawkers on territory flying continuously up and down. They didn't land in the ninety minutes I was with them so I thought I would attempt some flight shots. This is a good species to capture in flight as they can hover well at times. I did a bit of homework first before attempting a few photos. One of the males had a dangly leg and vigorously chased away anything that attempted to fly through or land in his territory. With a bit of patience, I ended up with a few useable photos. Still some improvements required but a fantastic way to spend a few hours. It certainly beats working! Other bits seen included 2 Norfolk Hawker, 4 Emperor Dragonfly, 2 Black tailed Skimmer, 2 Willow Emerald Damselfly, a few Common Blue Damselfly as well as Common and Ruddy Darter.

Southern Migrant Hawker - male