Westbere Catch-up

I was able to spend a few hours last weekend at Westbere where I wandered around in all weathers from sunny and warm to heavy rain. During a heavy shower I was resting up under a tree when as I scanned the grass line, I picked out a male Banded Demoiselle. Should I stay and keep dry or risk the rain for a shot of a Banded Demoiselle. Well, I decided to get a little wet and try to get a few photos. As the rain finally passed over, the sun come out which encouraged a few Norfolk Hawker to take to the wing. I could spend hours watching them but finally had to take a few photos as they flew in and landed. The light was quite tricky but the photos didn't work out too badly. There were a few Scarce Chaser on the wing and try as I did, I ended up having to get a shot or two of a few individuals that posed well. Only a few hours out in differing weather but long enough to enjoy the variety of species and photographic opportunities that were on offer.  

Banded Demoiselle - male

Norfolk Hawker - male

Scarce Chaser - male

No Pain, No Gain

Whilst it has been great having this week off work, it has been tough going with the weather which at times has been hard work. It seems most days this week it has been very windy, cloudy and raining at times, but there have been a few sunny spells to work with as well. I spent a few hours at Oare Marshes on Wednesday 4th and hoped to give the Dainty Damselflies a count. The wind however had other ideas and made it quite hard to find them initially. I ended up seeing 31 Dainty Damselfly in the usual small area. With the weather as it was, none were seen over the pool ovipositing. The habitat looks so good for them here and I'm sure there are more that cannot be seen on private land. I will hopefully make another visit next weekend and hope the weather is better to see how many are on the wing. As the rarest damselfly in the UK, I make no apologies for more photos of this superb little damselfly. It was good to find a number of females on my visit and I spent some time photographing them and trying to capture their identification features in the shots. Also seen were 46 Scarce Emerald Damselfly which is very encouraging. Again, I can only imagine how many more there must be on the land that cannot be viewed. A cracking few hours well spent despite the conditions. 

Dainty Damselfly - male

Dainty Damselfly - female

First Southern Migrant Hawkers Emerging

I spent the morning at a blustery Oare Marshes in between cloudy and sunny moments but it felt warm when the sun was out. I saw quite a few Dainty Damselfly, Scarce Emerald Damselfly and a few other species but one of the highlights was as I was checking the sheltered side of the grasses, I disturbed a Hawker dragonfly which I assumed was going to be a Norfolk Hawker. It kept low out of the wind before landing again c10 metres away. I raised the binoculars and was pleased to see it was a Southern Migrant Hawker, my first of the year. I had the macro on so went into stealth mode to try and get closer. Every now and then I stopeed to take a look and get a few shots. It wasn't long until I was now quite close and could see it was a teneral female. She had probably only emerged a night or so ago and looked in stunning condition. With a bit of patience, I was able to take a series of photos and despite the vegetation all around her, they have not turned out too bad. After the photos were secure, I spent some time studying the finer details of her markings before she took to the air and gained height before vanishing from view. What an excellent end to the session and hopefully the first of many I will see this year. I think the males when they colour up have to be one of the most stunning looking dragonflies we have. Hopefully this species will have another good year in Kent. With plenty of other photos taken today, I will post them in the next few days.  

Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) - teneral female

A 'Brilliant' Time!

Having paid a number of visits to Thursley Common in the past couple of weeks to look for Brilliant Emeralds emerging, I have found a few areas where I managed to find a number of their exuviae. Despite not being able to actually find the dragonfly emerging on the days I was there, the film crew that I have been working with closely, made a visit to one of the areas a day later and managed to film a Brilliant Emerald emerging. What a result and worth the effort to help them hopefully film this quite rare sight. I decided on my return home that I would photograph the exuviae to show off some of the features needed to identify them. They are a nationally rare dragonfly and so to have their exuviae in my collection is very satisfying. The most obvious feature that I check for is the presence of a large dorsal spine on S9. This is very small or absent in the Downy Emerald. Two rows of black spots are also seen on the sides of the abdomen which the Downy lacks. The long spider type legs are also a feature of both Emeralds. 

Side view

Top view showing dark spots running down the side of the abdomen

Top view showing dark spots running down the side of the abdomen

Showing head shape

Showing dorsal spines and prominent spine on S9

Showing head shape and serrations on labial palps