Just Sometimes...

As mentioned in my last post, I have been able in this lovely warm sunny weather to fit in a few sessions after work at Grove Ferry where my main targets have been the Norfolk Hawkers. On Tuesday I was again walking around Grove Ferry where in an hour or so  I was able to find up to 28 Norfolk Hawker patrolling up and down various dykes. What was encouraging was seeing quite a few females away from water flying over the meadows which is encouraging for the future of this species in east Kent. I took my normal set of photos when the chance arose but it was one area in particular with fresh green reeds present and an obliging male Norfolk Hawker that kept me busy. As the title suggests, every now and then you find an individual in good condition that shows beautifully giving me the chance to take a number of photos from various angles. I was able to just sit back and watch as he flew up and down the ditch, returning to the same patch of reeds and landing for some time before going off on patrol again. I'm often guilty of trying to cover too much area during a session looking for a shot so to just sit back and enjoy this stunning species up close was a pleasure. It won't be to long until they start to look quite worn and then dwindle in numbers slowly so I made sure I got my fill of one of my favourite species. It seems to have been a successful season so far for them in east Kent and with numbers now starting to appear at other locations in southern England, it seems that the Norfolk Hawker is here to stay and for others to enjoy. I'm sure I will be back again soon to see them but I feel this set of photos is about as good as I can get showing off this species to its best.

 

 

Norfolk Hawker (Aeshna isosceles) - male

 



Green Eyed Beauties

Although we have been blessed with some lovely sunshine in the past few weeks, it seems that most of my sessions have been hampered with some quite breezy winds. This has proved quite a challenge when trying to photograph Norfolk Hawkers in flight and as of yet, most of my attempts this year have been disappointing to say the least. I made another attempt yesterday afternoon and again, the winds were blowing quite strong on arrival which meant that any attempts at photographing flight shots were soon dashed. The particular ditch I like to photograph flight shots from is rather open but with vegetation quite low, there are ample opportunities to search for likely targets but with the wind howling through, I decided to search in some of the other more vegetated areas where it would be more sheltered. In a few hours searching I managed to find 13 Norfolk Hawker which included a mating pair seen in flight and an ovipositing female which I managed to get a few shots of through peering through the reeds. The camera was thankfully kept busy and I managed to take a number of pleasing shots of this species which I just can't get enough of. With their season well under way, a few are already showing signs of wear and tear but a few pristine individuals are still to be found. I also managed to see a few Black tailed Skimmer, Four spotted Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly too. With some hot weather and lighter winds this week, I'm hopeful of a few after work visits to see whether I can at last capture a few pleasing flight shots of a Norfolk Hawker before their time is up. Fingers crossed that my perseverance might pay off.

 

Norfolk Hawker (Aeshna isosceles) - ovipositing female

 

Norfolk Hawker (Aeshna isosceles) - male

 



Emerging Emperor Dragonfly

In the past few days at my garden pond in the evenings, I have become aware of a few Emperor Dragonfly nymphs starting to appear in the shallows with the back of their heads out of the water, a sure sign that they are preparing to emerge soon. With a mild night last night with light winds, I felt quite confident that at least one of them might try to emerge so around 21:30, I made my usual trip out to the pond to check and found one of the nymphs well out of the water on a reed. I was soon getting all the equipment ready for a session like this which included camera, tripod, flash diffuser, beanbag and a nice blanket to lay on. I was hoping that soon after that the Emperor would start to emerge but it wasn't until 23:15 that the nymph started to climb higher up the reed and chose its spot from which to emerge. Next was the familiar thrashing of the abdomen to check for any obstructions when emerging followed by a few minutes of stillness as the nymph skin clearly started to show signs of drying out. While this is happening I am watching from a safe distance as to not disturb the nymph as it makes its final preparations before finally moving in slowly and laying down at the pond to start photographing. At 23:26 the nymph started to emerge and this signalled the start of nearly ninety minutes of studying and photographing the stages of emergence. It never ceases to amaze me as the beastly nymph transforms into a winged wonder of nature. Thankfully all went well and just before 1am, the Emperor Dragonfly nymph was fully emerged with its wings pumped up and this was my signal to head to bed after a successful nights work. I would suspect soon after that the Emperor would have made a short flight to the nearest trees for safety where he will mature up before moving on to look to breed. A quick look this morning before work saw no Emperor at the pond and hopefully all went well for the maiden flight. Despite being a little tired this morning, it's always a pleasure to witness one of nature's often unseen miracles in action.

 

Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) - Emerging male

 

 



Early Emeralds

Whilst at the pond at Nethergong over the weekend I was surprised to see a few early Emerald Damselfly in the long grasses which had obviously recently emerged from the pond. I also netted an Emerald Damselfly nymph which confirms that they are breeding in this pond, the first time I have seen them breeding in this area of the site. With the sun still hiding behind the trees but not long off shining on the grasses, I decided to set up the tripod and take a few images of the Emerald Damselfly. The damselfly was resting nicely on some Lavender and by the time I had the camera ready, the sun was just about shining on the area which showed off the damselfly nicely. I spent quite a while taking a number of images from different angles, hoping that it would not fly off but she seemed quite content resting. With a number of photos taken and with the sun warming up the area, she finally flew off over the water. It would seem that at this site, the Emerald Damselfly has emerged nearly 2 weeks earlier than normal and this makes me wonder whether the Willow Emerald Damselfly will also emerge earlier at this site. I normally expect to see my first during the second week of July so it will be interesting to see what happens next month.

 

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) - female



Common Is Beautiful

With some sunny weather forecast for today, I was out of the house early at 4:45am where a few minutes later I pulled up at Nethergong for a walk around. I had intended to do my normal walk around the site looking for birds and then as the temperatures warmed up, spend some time looking for dragonflies but I ended up spending nearly 3 hours at the pond. There was so much to be seen with Common Darters emerging everywhere and despite finding many already emerging, I wanted to find one that was about to emerge for some photos but couldn't on this occasion. It was however brilliant to sit and watch many emerging together and I did take the odd shot which I couldn't resist. Next to the pond the owners have left the grass this year to grow up and this provides a magnet to newly emerged dragonflies and damselflies and with plenty of dew around this morning, I set about trying to find any likely candidates for a photo or two. I soon found many Blue tailed, Azure and the odd Variable Damselfly at rest along with 4 Emerald Damselfly but it was a quite dewy Common Darter perched up which got my attention for some photos. This is such a fantastic time of the day to observe them when they are at rest and the light can be superb too.

 

 

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) - immature male

 

With a few photos taken I soon captured a Blue tailed Damselfly at rest before moving on around the pond. Many Common Darter exuviae were seen along with either Four spotted or Black tailed Skimmer exuviae which I collected and brought home to check out in the next few days. As the temperature warmed up 3 Emperor Dragonfly appeared at the pond along with 1 Hairy Dragonfly, 1 Black tailed Skimmer and 1 Broad bodied Chaser which posed nicely as they sometimes do for photos, to which I obliged.

 

 

 

 

Broad bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) - female

 

I must have only walked a few metres in the 3 hours at the pond but it just goes to show, if you have a good look around and wait, they is often something to be found and seen.

 

 Blue tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

 

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) - newly emerged female



Male Stag Beetle

It was about a year ago that I had my first ever experience with a male Stag Beetle and I was not disappointed. To see one of these fascinating insects up close is pretty magical and then to learn about there lifecycle of being underground for up to 7 years as a larvae, it most certainly is an amazing insect and such a privilege to be able to study one up close. What with the lockdown we are currently in, I was starting to think that I might not get the chance to see one this year but thankfully, I received a message from Andrew Malone last night who has them breeding in his Whitstable garden alerting me that he had just found a male Stag Beetle in the garden after dark. This was a chance I could not miss and so made arrangements to visit early this morning to his garden to have a magical encounter. I arrived unfortunately in quite dark murky conditions this morning and was hoping for a bit of sunshine but it was not to be. Andrew let me in the back gate and I got myself set up in the garden with the tripod and camera while Andrew collected the Stag Beetle. I carefully put the Beetle on a log and thankfully for me, he just stayed there and posed beautifully allowing me to take a number of photos from different angles to show off those incredible features. From time to time, I had to put the camera down and just take in what was in front of me. To think that he had been under the ground for up to 7 years is one of nature's miracles. To then not feed at all for the short adult life makes the Stag Beetle quite an incredible insect. With a number of photos taken and light rain starting to fall, I had one more last good look at the Beetle and thanked Andrew for allowing me to visit in these testing times and made my way back to the car. If I don't get to see another one this year, I am lucky to have had a brilliant encounter but you never know, a few more may emerge and give me another chance to see and photograph what has to be one of our most stunning insects we have in this country.

 

Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) - male