Woodland Hawkers.

At this time of the year the long summer days
provide a bounty of flying insects in our woodlands and meadows.Along  the sunny rides and clearings our dragonflies and in particular the hawkers find an abundant supply of prey.

Two species seem to be most noticeable in my local copse at present,the Emperor and the Southern Hawker.Whereas most seem to be still immature,as so this female opposite,it was a treat to come across a more mature female (pictured below).

Our Lucky Day.

As mentioned in some of my earlier posts the Small Red-eyed Damselfly is a relatively recent addition to the fauna of the UK.The male is colourful damselfly and can normally be seen passing the time on a lily-pad usually some way out on the pond.Therefore I am fortunate to be able to visit a modest sized garden pond  where this damselfly can be observed at close quarters.

It is early in their season so today there were just a few males to see on their lily-pads.The photo below of a teneral male Red-eyed was a result of its near fatal encounter with a strand of spiders web.The damselfly was struggling in vain to free itself from its snare just an inch or so above the water and some short distance out on the pond.Taking a handy hosepipe I managed to free it using the end of the hose and it happily clung to my finger until I deposited it onto a pondside leaf.My reward was several photos of this youngster who eventually fluttered off into cover.

Pond News.

The summery weather has triggered a lot of activity at my garden pond recently.However apart from the usual damselflies there have not been many of the larger dragonflies to see.So yesterday it was good to witness this female Emperor Dragonfly ovipositing into the extensive carpet of frogbit.

Another visitor was this maturing Common Darter that has taken up his spot on the pebbles awaiting females.  

Hunting Hawkers.

On a walk through the wood today I came across two hawkers on the lookout for a meal.The first an immature female Southern Hawker and secondly an adult male Emperor Dragonfly.

Red-veined Back Again.

Last year at this time we made a visit to a location in the West Wight to see Red-veined Darters.This species is not common in the UK although reports of sightings continue to be received from various regions.Once again this season it looks as though the Red-veined is present in reasonable numbers at some coastal ponds and reservoirs on the Island.This particular  reservoir is on farmland and it is great to see that this species has seemingly colonised it.

A Busy Broad-bodied Chaser.

The females of some  dragonfly species take on the colouring  similar to the males.The Broad-bodied Chaser is one such species, for as the  female ages the abdomen becomes blue.This female was seen at my garden pond recently busily ovipositing.