The love affair continues................

............with the Anisoptera and  Zygoptera of our region. I spent nearly 5 hours yesterday afternoon with an emerging Southern Hawker after seeing the nymph exit the pond and crawl up a stem to begin the lengthy operation. I now think of emerging dragonflies in terms of drying washing. Yesterday was not a great "drying day" as the sunshine was intermittent but more importantly in the secluded clearing in Thornley Woods there was no wind. The stunner still hadn't taken to the wing when i had to leave, this being far longer than described in all the accounts i had read.
Below are some images from Saturdays visit to the bog in Cumbria.
Common Hawker

Female oviposting around edge of pool. Male/s were patrolling the pools continually, checking for other males and searching the vegetation around the edges for the females. I never saw a male come to rest once and they were very difficult to capture in flight.

 Black Hawker

Gorgeous female taking in the rays away from the commotion of the pools.

Handsome young male striking a pose. They start turning darker with age and only the old specimens turn almost all black.

 Emerald Damselfly

The 4 sub species of Emeralds are noticable straight away by the way they hold their wings. The only damselflies that do not hold their wings along the length of their bodies. Look at those blue eyes.......much better than Paul Newmans'.

 

Can you spare a Copper?

First "proper" venture out for a few weeks saw me returning to the raised bog in Cumbria this time with Brian (Northumbrian Birding) who wanted to catch up with the White-faced Darters before the end of their flight season. He was not disappointed with sightings of that species along with Black Darter, Four-spot Chaser, Common Hawker and other species to be positively identified. There were of course numerous damselfly species all, along with us, enjoying excellent conditions for the six and a half hours plus that we were at the site. Brian spent the majority of the time around the three pools with the damsels and dragons whereas having been before i wandered off to try to explore further afield. One species which Brian was hoping to capture was the Large Heath butterfly but he never saw a single specimen and i only saw the one while on my wanders. Not surprising i suppose as the end of its flight season is marked down as early August in most publications.

Small Copper

Enjoying the nectar from the flowers of the heather

A nice top view showing the markings on both front and hind wings.

The only Large Heath i saw also enjoying the heather along with numerous other insects.

A nice surprise

Not having gone far recently due to calf and hip problems i hadn't downloaded any images from my camera for quite a few days. The images were mainly from my last couple of days in Kent and included one nice surprise. I managed to get out for a couple of hours very early on the penultimate day of my visit to the Garden County and headed down to explore an area along the Medway River. I ended up at a reservoir which was obviously a home to a local fishing club and i thought i might find some nice damsels or dragons. Unfortunately i didn't sight a single one and the highlights were a couple of Great Crested Grebes on the water, a Robin i had a conversation with at my feet and a juvenile Green Woodpecker up a tree. I did however come across a single butterfly next to the path leading down to the river from the local village. It was very flighty and i got a couple of shots of what i thought might be a Meadow Brown and thought no more of it.

I had captured a female Gatekeeper

A species i hadn't seen before and i hadn't realised.

Like a virgin.

It's an awful admission but last night at the ripe old age of 57, i am no longer a virgin. I lost my Petrel "cherry" in the hide at St. Marys' Lighthouse ( i couldn't find a bike shed) and there were voyeurs present. Strange men with optical aids were making odd noises, salivating and doing Chris Packham thigh rubbing. Worryingly, i felt quite at home amongst them.

The fab four

No, not The Beatles. The Storm Petrels i saw this evening at St. Marys with the Blogger from Howdon. A fly through by a small flock of Common Scoters. Lots of Guillemots and Razorbills feeding on the water. An Arctic Skua and a nice juvenile Kittiwake other highlights. Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshanks were continually disturbed by rock poolers or whatever they are flipping called.
I blame Alice Cooper.

The last post........................from my trip to Cumbria.

Four-spotted Chaser was another of the species of dragonfly sighted. Some images follow.

Four-spotted Chaser

The sexes are very similar with the males adopting vantage points among tall marginal vegetation

An aggressive species with a rapid territorial flight.........................on the wing 'till mid August

The females spend much of their time away from water and often seen perching on trees or bushes. When they do come to the water to oviposit they are continually harassed by males.

Tell ya what, i enjoyed my visit so much i might just call back this weekend, weather and body permitting.