Month: August 2010

We’ve had a good deal of rain which has replenished the water bodies and all ponds and streams in the New Forest are looking much healthier. Good news indeed, but still the hunt for opportunities are proving a challenge.

My first port of call was Troublefield, just over the county border near Hurn. This is a fabulous water meadow on the banks of the Moors River which has showed promise on a previous visit. It needs a hot and sunny day to bring out the best, and I was there rather early. Still there were a couple of Common Darters and a few Southern Hawkers to be found.

On the way back I called into the pond to be greeted by a lone Common Darter perched and a few more patrolling the water

A few more days of rain and wind during the week prevented further exploration, but Friday looked more promising. Besides I needed an opportunity to try out a pair of wellies. I cannot believe how I’ve managed up to now without such a vital tool. They were ideal for tramping through the sodden heath but their real became apparent at the now full pond. Several Emerald damsels provided the ideal opportunity to use them as intended.

Moving on to Linford I was greeted by a healthy, and in places rather deep, Linford Brook. Again signs of life were acarce, but at least a female Southern Hawker provided a great opportunity to get some close-up shots while she was ovipositing.

The weather forecast for the weekend was promising and rather unexpected for a Bank Holiday. Knowing all roads west would be a nightmare of holiday traffic I decided against the New Forest and instead took Sue to Thursley Common. A wise choice. Barely out of the car we were greeted by a couple of Brown Hawkers and a couple of Downy (or mayve  Brilliant Emeralds) patrolling the pond. Further exploration revealed Common Blue, Small Red and Red-eyed Damsels around the margins.

Hawker activity was plentiful so I set up camp on the northern bank and attempted to get a Brown Hawker in flight. These magnificent dragons are a wonder to observe in flight and provide a real challenge with their speed and manouverability. This was the best I could manage.

Next was a patrol of the heath where several male & female Black Darters were observed and a couple gave opportunities for a photograph or two.

Besides Black Darters there were a few very brightly-coloured Male Keeled Skimmers. The boardwalks themselves were festooned with Common Lizards of all shapes, sizes and colours, which was a delight to see.

Back towards the pond and along a ride there was plenty of activity with the enevitable Common Darters and some of the best Hawker activity we’ve witnessed for a while. Southerns, Migrants and Browns were patrolling the ride along with a lone Downy Emerald – a late showing for this species,.

Time was getting on and activity was slowing down, but we did manage to pop into Shortheath Common, near Oakhanger on the way home. The only sighting was of a lone Blue-tailed Damselfly which provided the last photo opportunity of the day.

All in all a cracking day and a fitting end to a more successful week. Here’s hoping the promised good weather will produce some fine results over the next week or so.

I managed to grab a few hours on Sunday 15th, although dragon sightings were thin on the ground. First port of call was Mill Lawn searching the feeder streams for any sign of Scarce Blue-tails. None to be found, although there was some activity from several Common Darters, Keeled Skimmers and a late sighting of a Broad-bodied Chaser, which was a delight to see.

The main stream wasn’t showing any signs of activity either, so I made my way to Linford where I watched a lone male Southern Hawker holding territory across the pond.

Rained off on Monday, but Tuesday 16th showed promise with the first good sunny day for over a week. I therefore started out early to cover as much ground as possible starting at Broomy Pond where Emerald Damsels were plentiful among the grass and heather.

There was a lone male Emperor patrolling the pond, a few Common Darters among the gorse and further searching produced a few Small Red and Common Blue damsels..

From Broomy I walked across the heath to Milkham Bottom where the pond was showing signs of the recent drought conditions with hardly any water. The surrounding heath only produced a couple of Black Darters.

I’ve been assured by several people the pond at Milkham Bottom is one of the better ponds in the New Forest, but every time I’ve been there I’ve been disappointed.

Off to Blashford Lakes next for my first visit this year. Plenty of damsel activity and barely five minutes in I had my first sighting of a Brown Hawker, a male flying high among the trees along the back path. This was followed shortly after by a female patrolling the stream in the clearing. No photo opportunities though.

I back-tracked my route calling in at Linford to observe yet another patrolling Southern Hawker and several Common Darters enjoying the afternoon sun.

My last port of call was a favourite undocumented pond on the edge of the forest where the water level was so low I could almost walk from one side to the other. Despite the continued sunshine all I was were a few Emerald Damsels, a lone Male Emperor and a rather ragged and late-flying Four-spotted Chaser.

Wednesday 18th was the last chance I had to venture out, so I headed out to Pennington via Crockford Stream. At the latter the only sighting were a few Beautiful Demoiselles. On the way to Lymington I stopped off at a private fishing pond where I observed a few Blue-tailed Damsels and a lone female Black-tailed Skimmer.

At Pennington I did a circuit of the sea wall and the old road. Along the margins of Fish-tail Lagoon there were a couple of Migrant Hawkers patrolling and a few Blue-tailed damsels. On the way back I stopped off at the small pond to witness a couple of Southern Hawkers and a few Common Darters, the latter also appearing at intervals along the gravel path.

I called into Crockford on the way back hoping to see at least a Hawker or two, but alas the weather had turned overcast and there was nothing to be found except those hardy Beautiful Demoiselles. Similar circumstances at Hatchet small pond where by now the wind had really started to take hold. Even a short visit to Hawkhill where at least it was sheltered produced nothing further for that day.

The next few days brought some well needed rain. Bring it on. Once the ponds and streams are replenished let’s hope for a few days of uninterrupted warm sun with no wind!

Still having to play catch-up here with another two weeks of sightings to publish. I’ll start with Monday 9th where I visited 3 local sites to see what could be found on a rather overcast and cool day.

I started at Abbotswood, near Romsey, where there appeared to be a lot of construction work going on in the name of nature conservation. The pond here was in a very sorry state with hardly any water and all the rushes flattened down. All I managed to find was a rather lonely Emerald Damselfly who avoided my attempts at getting a photograph.

Just around the corner is Carrisbrook Meadows – an ideal sounding place, but unfortunately the whole site has all but been turned into a local authority tip. Barely a couple of minutes in I was challenged and told to keep to the footpath as the rest of the site – including the ponds – belonged to the waste company and was out of bounds.

I reasoned with the fellow and asked who I should seek permission from to do a dragonfly survey and this approach seemed to work with me being allowed to carry on. This was the site where I managed an excellent photo of a Small Red-eyed Damsel a few weeks back. However none were to be found this day, just a few Blue-tailed and a few Common Darters.

Disappointed with the day so far I travelled on to Testwood Lakes in the hope of seeing a few Small Red-eyed. The centre pond provided a few opportunities, but a conversation with one of the fellows doing a butterfly count informed me populations were well down on previous years.

From there I took a look at the Gully Pond where I spotted my first Migrant Hawker of the season

There was also a female Southern Hawker doing the rounds and attempting to oviposit on the boardwalk

The following Wednesday I ventured out early intending a return visit to Ringwood Forest to photograph a selection of Emerald Damselflies, which are very plentiful here. The grass and heather was still wet from the evening rain and I ended up soaking wet, but the results were worth it.

Further exploration into the undergrowth produced a few Black Darters and a Common Darter

From there I took a short drive to Slop Bog on the Ferndown Bypass, a site I’d been meaning to visit. Unfortunately the site only confirmed my suspicions that local authority nature reserves rarely produce anything near what they promise. All I managed to see was a lone Common Darter and a couple of Small Red Damselflies.

On the way back I stopped in at the pond Doug & I had previously visited and was rewarded with a female Brown Hawker ovipositing

Thursday 12th at first looked promising, but as usual the weather took a turn for the worse with only the briefest of sunny spells to break the gloom. I stopped off at Duck Hole Bog and spent a few moments watching a lone male Emperor patrolling the pond.

I also stopped off at Burley Gravel Pits but again all to be seen was a lone male Emperor.

The weather continued it’s gloom for the following two days, but Doug, Sue and I ventured out as planned anyway on Saturday. The only sightings were of Common Blue Damsels, everything else hiding away from what was to become a very wet day.

As mentioned previously we do desperately need some rain, in fact a great deal to replenish the heathland ponds. I would prefer it if we could have a few days of torrential showers followed by some hot, dry and windless days instead of this indecisive gloom with occasional sunny spells. Either rain or don’t!

But then we are in Britain and apathetic gloom should be expected in our summers!

Conditions are still critically dry in the New Forest and dragon activity is still well down on the same time last year. However a reasonably sunny day last Sunday brought out the Hawkers for an enjoyable afternoons shooting.

Within minutes of parking Doug and I were greeted by two male Brown Hawkers and a Southern Hawkers patrolling the wooded margins of the car park. This boded well for the next few hours with the best activity I’ve witnessed for weeks. There were at least two female Brown Hawkers ovipositing in the pond, a Common Hawker patrolling and lots of damsel activity on the margins including Blue-tails and Emeralds.

The main objective of the day were to attempt some photographs of the ovipositing female Brown Hawkers, an opportunity not to be missed considering the difficulty normally encountered with this species. Although we had several opportunities it was still a challenge to get perfect results even with their close proximity.

There was also a lone female Southern Hawker ovipositing low down within the reeds which proved a real challenge due to the position and low light levels.

On a sadder note there was a rather gruesome sight of a female Small Red Damselfly with the abdomen of a male still attached.

The surrounding heath provided more sightings of Brown Hawkers, this time males which refused to land for photo opportunities but at leaqst there was an obliging Common Darter.

Not far from our pond was another located on private land, but a chance meeting with the land owner at least provided us with the opportunity to ask permission to survey any dragonfly activity which we usually wouldn’t have access to.

Due to the pond being surrounded by cultivated farmland and therefore unwelcome changes to the natural acidity levels, there were still some welcome opportunities, including the rare and delightful experience of having a female Brown Hawker fly between my legs and land on my boot.

We also had a lone male Southern Hawker patrolling the pond giving us an opportunity to practice our in-flight photography.

All in all a successful day and a delight to witness some decent Hawker activity.

The reasonably dry summer has really taken it’s toll on our water bodies and associated odonata. Most of the New Forest heath ponds are critically low and a good number have dried out completely.

I’ve had to look long & hard for dragons & damsels over the past week. At least Higher Hyde Heath produced a few Ruddy Darters of both sexes along with a welcome Southern Hawker

On Tuesday I took a trip around a few favourite New Forest haunts including Crockford Stream which disappointingly only produced a few Beautiful Demoiselles, a few Southern Damsels, a few Small Reds and a lone Golden-ringed. Next stop was Hawkhill which only produced a few Keeled Skimmers and no Hawkers whatsoever. Even the stream which runs through the valley is completely dry.

At least Badminston produced a few damsels and plenty of Common Darters, although not near as many as there should be this time of year.

At least Wednesday saw a little rain and even a brief thunderstorm, but nowhere near enough to replenish the water table. I went out early – probably too early – on Thursday for a stroll around upper Ober Water and Duck Hole Bog. Again activity was almost non existent, although there were a few sightings a little later when the sun made a brief appearance.

Still only a couple of White-legged Damsels, a few Beautiful’s and a reasonable number of Keeled Skimmers patrolling the bog to the south of the main river.

Next stop was Holmsley where at least there was more activity with Common and Ruddy Darters, Small Red, Emerald and Azure Damsels and even a brief sighting of a Southern Hawker. A chat with a fellow enthusiast revealed there was more of the same along with a couple of Emperors and several Keeled Skimmers at the old Quarry.

With time to spare I paid a brief visit to Ramsdown Forest where I saw absolutely nothing! Not even a Golden-ringed or Black Darter was to be found among the heath. So all in all a pretty disappointing week. Let’s hope the weather improves with some heavy rainfall followed by more than just sunny spells.