Month: July 2011

For once Thursday 14th looked promising , with fine, hot and sunny weather for most of the day. Blessed with this change I headed over the county border to what I consider the best Ruddy Darter site for miles.

Higher Hide Heath, near Wareham, is a small nature reserve consisting of an upland heath and reclaimed quarry workings. Surprisingly it is the latter section which provides the most diversity – with a good population of Sand Lizards and other reptiles and two ponds on different levels.

The upper section has a thicket of heather and gorse which provide feeding and resting places for odonata, and it is here that the majority of Ruddy Darters can be found. On this fine, hot morning I counted over 30 males & females – by far the most I’ve seen in one place.

Besides the Ruddy’s there were a couple of Emperors, a few Four-spotted Chasers and a Southern Hawker patrolling the pond, Common, Azure and Emerald Damselflies among the foliage. Compared to last year the Emeralds were surprisingly scarce.

Unfortunately I had to cut my visit short, but having achieved my objective I wasn’t too bothered. For the afternoon I visited Pennington with Sue primarily for the Small Red-eyed Damselflies who were present if fine numbers with at least 7 pairs in cop among individual males.

Besides the SRE there were plenty of Blue-tailed, Common and Azure Damsels among the foliage and across the pond. Surprisingly there was very little larger dragon activity, with just the one male Emperor and a few Black-tailed Skimmers. Also seen were a few Common Darters and a Beautiful Demoiselle.

Later on that afternoon we had arranged to meet Jerry for an early evening foray at the pond. By now the sun was compromised with patches of cooling cloud which curtailed activity over the pond, with just a lone male Emperor patrolling.

Undaunted we searched the reeds and were rewarded with Common Blue, Emerald and Small Red Damselflies, several Common and a few Black Darters.

I missed the best weather on Friday by being roped into a band shoot, but managed to get away for a late afternoon walk along Ober Water. Conditions were far from ideal and the only sighting along the stream were a few Keeled Skimmers, Azures and Beautiful Demoiselles.

We walked back along the treeline hoping for a few roosters, but again all we managed were a couple more Keeled and a single male White-legged.

Saturday was a complete washout, but Sunday blessed us with a few sunny spells during the afternoon where Sue & I joined Doug at Ramsdown Forest. First to be spotted were the Emerald Damselflies, followed shortly after by some Black Darters.

After getting our fill, we headed up the small hill disturbing our first Brown Hawker of the day, which, true to form, soared far and high over the trees. A few more Black Darters were taking refuge in the heather along with a lone Golden-ringed.

At the other side of the hill we spotted another two Brown Hawkers, but failed to pin them down. Surprisingly I spotted a female Broad-bodied Chaser hawking a gorse thicket which contained it’s own warm, humid micro-climate.

Flying over the small heath-land ponds were more Black Darters, Four-spotted Chasers and a couple of Emperors.

Heading over to Troublefield it was a delight to see so much butterfly activity, along with a few Beautiful and Banded Demoiselles. Further along the paddock Sue disturbed a Brown Hawker and we watched as it flew up & around us several times before landing on the fence post.

Knowing how difficult they are to approach I dropped to my belly and crawled, all the time keeping the reed grass between me & my quarry. Not the best composition, but a result nevertheless.

So a fine end to a patchy, if reasonably productive week.

After a fine start to July the weather has yet again disappointed with dull, cloudy days and very brief sunny spells. I therefore decided to wait for better weather and concentrated on catching a few more glimpses of the Purple Emperor butterfly before their season ended.

On Saturday 9th I visited Bentley Wood for exactly this purpose and after an early start (6.00am) waited patiently for signs, but even the butterflies were having a lie-in today. I couldn’t resist a brief visit to the ponds and knowing full well there wouldn’t be any odonata around I checked anyway for signs of emergence.

There were a few exuvia present, including this pair of – I presume Southern Hawker – which appeared to have emerged in tandem!

For the afternoon Sue & I took a trip to Alice Holt wood for a glimpse of the Purple Emperor and were rewarded with a sighting and photo opportunity. Also on the wing were a couple of Golden-ringed, a female Emperor, a male Black-tailed Skimmer, a male Beautiful Demoiselle and several Common Blue Damsels.

Sunday was dull & dreary but we did venture out to Pennington late afternoon for an hour or two where among the several Blue-tailed were my first sightings this year of the Small Red-eyed Damsels – a pair in cop.

Blue-tailed were still the predominant species with hundreds scattered throughout the foliage

Also on the wing were Black-tailed Skimmers, male and female Emperors and a few Common Darters.

Monday 11th it was off to Alice Holt again and this time the Golden-ringed were patrolling the brambles

We did get a sighting of a Purple Emperor, but he chose to ‘mineralize’ on the underside of an electricity transformer! Terrible for photos, which was a shame because he was the first ‘perfect’ male I’ve seen this season.

Wednesday 13th promised sunny skies but as usual there was mostly white cloud. It was 11.00am until the Black-tailed Skimmers took to the water and 11.30am before the first Emperors appeared, including an ovipositing female.

The only damsels venturing from the shelter of the bank were a few Blue-tailed and a lone male Small Red-eyed, unfortunately too far away for anything more than a poor record shot

This summer I’ve been a slave to the weather forecast and have planned my trips accordingly. Despite the promises there always seems to be more cloud and anything other than bright sun & warm temperatures just doesn’t deliver. Nevertheless I live in hope that we’ll soon get the weather we deserve…

On Saturday I finally got the chance to introduce Doug to the delights and diversity of possibly the best pond in the New Forest. On a warm, sunny late morning we arrived to find activity already in full flow with Emperors, Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmers, Broad-bodied and Four-spotted Chasers, Azure, Common Blue, Blue-tailed and Emerald Damsels all in flight over the pond.

These were joined by a lone Downy Emerald who even perched a couple of times in the gorse bush close to the bank, and a Beautiful Demoiselle far from it’s usual habitat.

Nearly all species were represented by both male & females with many in cop and females ovipositing.

Also present were a good population of Small Red Damsels, a delight to find as so far this year I’ve only found tenerals. Both male & female were present, most recently emerged and yet to get their full adult colouring.

I was anxious to get a photo of one of the many Emerald Damsels seen, and having missed most of the opportunities spotted Doug notified me of a pair along the edge of the island. So I took the plunge and headed over to the spot, venturing beyond wellie-length until I felt the cold, wet discomfort of saturation.

Still, you can only get so wet!

So far the weather had been better than promised with plenty of sun, but by late afternoon the cloud came in , subduing nearly all of the pond activity. Still it was a perfect time to grab a perched shot or two.

Male Emperors are usually more difficult to approach than their female counterparts but either through luck or better field-craft I’ve been able to get in close. Surprisingly this one allowed us both ample photograph opportunities and didn’t seem the least bothered.

So accommodating was this individual that I took a chance and gently placed my index finger close to his perch and hoped he’d climb aboard. A male Emperor? Surely this couldn’t be possible?

We couldn’t really top that, and as the cloud showed no sign of abating we packed away and left after a thoroughly enjoyable 5 hours with no less than 14 species seen:-

Emperor Dragonfly

Four-spotted Chaser

Broad-bodied Chaser

Keeled Skimmer

Black-tailed Skimmer

Downy Emerald

Common Darter

Black Darter

Azure Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Emerald Damselfly

Beautiful Demoiselle

Small Red Damselfly

On Sunday 3rd we joined Doug and Stewart for a tour of Linford Bottom. Soon after arrival we spotted our first Brown Hawkers and Golden-ringed among the ferns, but none were willing to pose for photographs.

The Emperors were more accommodating though

The stream itself was very anti-climatic with picnickers & dog walkers scaring away any hope of activity although we did spot another Golden-ringed and a Brown Hawker further upstream flying through and around the tourists

Further still on the northern bank was a large area of fern & heather where yet more hawkers were seen, obviously a prominent spot for hunting. The small pond at the furthest point proved anti-climatic with only a lone Broad-bodied Chaser patrolling, but beyond the 2nd bridge the stream revealed the most action of the day with Large & Small Red, and Emerald Damselflies and Beautiful Demoiselles.

Total species count for the day was 12.

On Monday morning I headed over to Ramsdown Forest in search of more Brown Hawkers. Unfortunately I didn’t see any, but within half-an-hour had spotted 5 Golden-ringed among the heather.

Over the pond were a few Four-spotted Chasers and a lone male Emperor while in the surrounding foliage were a few Black Darters.

Afterwards I checked out Stephen’s Castle, a small nature reserve in Verwood. After searching the surrounding heath and spotting the odd Common Darter and Golden-ringed, I located the ponds.

The first was in the rains of a quarry and contained a few Broad-bodied Chasers but on the whole appeared a little too sheltered for much else. Close by was more of a heath-land mire with a lot of activity for such a small area.

Two male and one female Emperors, several Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers, Azure, Emerald and Small Red Damselflies.

Due to unpromising weather conditions I concentrated on butterflies Tuesday and shortly after arrival at Alice Holt I had my first Purple Emperor, landed briefly and allowing a photo opportunity.

Besides the butterflies there were a few Golden-ringed, Black-tailed Skimmers, Broad-bodied Chasers, Azure and Common Blue Damselflies along the forest rides.

On this occasion I finally located the pond which shows on the OS map. Unfortunately nothing more than a reservoir surrounded by trees and with no real pond side access, but no doubt good for woodland species such as Downy Emeralds in season.

As I write this I’m suffering the effects of a summer cold (thanks Doug!) and any further activity this week is unlikely judging by the weather. Still, plenty of the season still to go so here’s to a glorious hawker season!

The week started slowly with a morning visit to Bentley Wood where the only things of any significance happening on the ponds are the empty exuvia of Southern Hawkers and a few patrolling Azures & Large Reds.

Wednesday was much better. An early morning excursion to Dibden Bottom produced several fresh Emerald Damselflies and the odd teneral Black Darter.

The main pond is looking much healthier than I’ve seen before and there was even a patrolling Emperor.

Across the road Furzey Pond proved it’s usual disappointment and Rushbush Pond only had a couple of Four-spotted Chasers doing the rounds. The heath itself didn’t throw up anything – except the surprise of a lone Golden-ringed in a gorse thicket.

I visited Crockford Stream afterwards and besides the odd Keeled Skimmer and teneral Common Darters the only real action was provided by Southern Damselflies. For once I decided to follow the stream upstream onto the heath and noticed far more activity with plenty of Southern Damsels, Beautiful Demoiselles and a lot more Keeled Skimmers.

After picking up Sue I decided to return to Dibden Bottom for more photo opportunities, but the weather was proving very annoying with a persistent 15 mph wind bringing in a funnel of predominantly dark cloud while the margins were showing blue skies. Having filled my boots we drove to Cadnam Common where things were much brighter with a good deal of late afternoon activity.

Battling for territory were Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmers, Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers – including an ovipositing female – and a couple of Emperors.

On the Damsel front were Azure, Blue-tailed and the odd Emerald.

The forecast for Thursday morning was good, so I couldn’t pass up the chance and spent a glorious three hours at Pennington. Arriving at 9.30am meant I had to wait a little while before things kicked off, but there were the inevitable Blue-tailed on the wing, followed by Azures and Large Reds.

First to grace the pond were the Black-tailed Skimmers

followed shortly afterwards by the Emperors – one holding territory over the south end, one over the north and one along the back channel.

Joining my chosen subject over the south end was a lone female Emperor ovipositing which was approached by the male a few times and irritated by a couple of Black-tailed.

While I was attempting some in-flight shots of the male Emperor I heard a whoosh and saw a blur through the viewfinder as a Hobby appeared from nowhere at great speed and attempted to whisk away my quarry.

Luckily my quarry had outmaneuvered the interloper and I had a brief chance to snap a record shot as it flew off over the trees never to be seen again. This is the first time I’ve seen a Hobby at close quarters – about 10 feet away from me when it struck.

It was one of those moments which take your breath away and I took about a quarter of an hour to recover and take in what I had witnessed. One of those life moments, for sure.

At around 11.00am a couple of Golden-ringed appeared along the stream, closely pursued by the territorial Emperor. I only saw the one teneral Common Darter this morning.

Back to my quarry and after watching him parade around his territory he landed close by in the reeds and allowed me to get in close – definitely the closest I have ever managed to get to a perched Emperor.

By 11.30am the cloud had thickened and the pond went quiet, so I packed up and moved on after a quite superb and eventful morning. Hopefully this has taught me to stay put and resist the temptation to move on too quickly.