Saturday 28th July
I had an itch which needed scratching; to find a pond with a patrolling Southern Hawker. Firstly, I needed to find a pond with water; the all-too-brief showers we’ve experienced (up until this point) hadn’t been enough to curtail, let alone reverse, the decline in our water levels.
I had just the pond in mind; not too far, reasonably sheltered and hopefully with enough surrounding activity to provide enough opportunities should my wish be unfulfilled.
![Common Emerald - immature male](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49372-1024x680.jpg)
Thankfully these opportunities were borne out by a very good showing of Common Emeralds both along the shore and in the surrounding meadow.
![Common Emerald - male](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49427-1024x680.jpg)
We had to wait for any decent spells of sunshine to kick-start some over-water activity, so I busied myself around the margins. An old and tattered Four-spotted Chaser was hanging on in there, holding his own against a few maturing Common Darters.
![Common Darter - immature male](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49378-1024x680.jpg)
My attention was grabbed by another darter, this one noticeably smaller and a much deeper red.
![Ruddy Darter - male](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49418-1024x680.jpg)
A bonus finding Ruddy Darter here, their being rather local, and usually only in small populations in the New Forest – in stark contrast to the swarms found around the Thames Estuary. Finding a reasonably local guaranteed population other than Badminston or Keyhaven is something to be celebrated.
Turning our attention to the skies we noticed a substantial break in the clouds approaching, certainly enough to wake up the pond. Sure enough, after five minutes the first male Emperor appeared, followed by a female and another male, making for some natural aggression.
The winning male failed in his attempts to lure the female away from ovipositing, so he decided to pick on another.
![Southern Hawker - male in-flight](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49452-1024x680.jpg)
He lost, and skulked away to the other side of the pond while I proceeded to enjoy his victor’s presence and indulge in some in-flight opportunities.
![Southern Hawker - male in-flight](http://hampshiredragonflies.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/D90_49459-1024x680.jpg)
He stayed close and very low above the Lilies, weaving in and out in a youthful display of dexterity, which along with the obscuring bank-side vegetation made for some challenging captures.
Just what I hoped for, and just what I needed!