Our Island Resident Species-Dragonflies(4).

Only one of the three 'emerald' species that breed in the UK are found here. The Downy Emerald, Cordulia aenea is on the wing in May and is normally encountered at woodland ponds. That is the  male in particular, as they endlessly it seems, patrol the pond close to the bank. The best view is usually fleeting as the males will occasionally hover for a few seconds before continuing their flight. If one is lucky a glimpse  of a female can be seen as she deposits her eggs in a sheltered position of a shallow spot, maybe amongst reeds near to the pond edge.

The Hairy Dragonfly is the first hawker of the year, emerging in May. It is aptly described as a small  darkish 'mosaic hawker' with a hairy thorax. Mature males like to patrol at low level along well vegetated ditches and ponds. The female is rather secretive and only visits water to find a mate or lay eggs.

The Southern Hawker is common on the Isle of Wight  and immatures can be seen in June. It is a regular visitor to my garden pond with females ovipositing into pond side moss and reeds. In fact  close observation of an egg-laying female can mean that she could attempt to lay her eggs on your trouser leg or even on your camera. The mature male is somewhat gaudy although  the adult female is resplendent  in  chocolate-brown and green markings.

  

A Summer Trek and the Long March Home.

Back in the first week July a companion and I made two visits to the only colony of Keeled Skimmers on the Isle of Wight.The results of these visits are detailed in earlier blog entries.

It is quite a trek to get to the site as it is situated on cliff landslip on the south west coast of the Island and the only access is via the beach.In the past getting onto the shore at the closest point to the Keeled Skimmer site was via Whale Chine but winter erosion apparently made this route impassable.Therefore we had to use another chine farther along the coast which meant a walk of an hour and half to our destination.Not a stroll when trudging through sand and over stones in wellington boots.

En route we passed by Whale Chine and to our surprise saw that rough steps together with several ropes had been fashioned up the cliff by anglers who fish from the shore at night.Returning by this method up the cliff would save us an hour along the beach on our return trip.

Nearing the site we came across our first skimmer flying around on the beach.It turned out to be a mature female and hopefully they will spread out and colonize suitable habitat on any other nearby landslips.

Keeled Skimmers at Whale Chine

The south-west coast of the Isle of Wight suffers from  regular coastal erosion.This landslip of the sandstone cliffs creates ideal conditions for the Keeled Skimmer.On these areas of landslip, draining water forms boggy pools allowing the skimmer to survive and complete its life cycle.

Whale Chine is among several sites along this stretch of coast where this dragonfly can breed and July is normally the best time to see them.

Mature males are mainly blue whereas immature males are similar to the golden-yellow colour of the females.