Author: Paul Ritchie

A day off last Thursday, probably fearing a disappointment after the previous day. Certainly a chance to catch up on the washing up! By Friday I was ready again.

I decided to scratch off a couple of long-forgotten areas of the forest with an energetic stroll around Shatterford, Bishops Dyke and Denny Wood. That wasn’t my plan, but the ponds I was looking for didn’t really exist any more, mostly dried out and restricted to a few boggy pools – which at least threw up a wealth of Keeled and a mature male Common Darter.

Having cleared myself of absolutely no guilt of not exercising I travelled on to Hatchet Pond. Why? To check out the lead in stream and flushes, and it proved to be a highlight of the day. I’ve only visited once before and found it hard going, but with a couple of years of practice I found the boggy areas and lead-in flushes surprisingly easy to navigate.

The further along the more it reminded me of Silver Stream, with pretty much the same cast except – oddly – Beautiful Demoiselles? Plenty of Golden-ringed, Southern Damselflies, inevitable Keeled, a few male Emperors and – surprisingly – a Black Darter.

On the way back down stream I paused a while to play with one of the male Emperors holding territory over a shallow open section.

While I was busy gaining his trust, a passing Dark Green Fritillary was promptly caught,dunked and death rolled below my feet.

Incredible to watch, and interesting to see the same tactic I’ve seen used on rival males.

I had a choice of Hawkhill or Crockford, and as I didn’t want to do too much walking – especially in forest rides – I chose to have a look at Crockford in preparation for a weekend visit from some friends.

Not a lot happening downstream, but once through to the clearing the Beautiful Demoiselles were putting on a fine display with a couple of Golden-ringed.

Did I mention Keeled?

Southern Damselflies were also in good numbers, but surprisingly Small Reds were rather low in number around the basin. The pool had a male Emperor patrolling, which probably accounted for the lack of Golden-ringed in that section. A couple of Broad-bodied Chasers didn’t seem to mind his presence, or just couldn’t care less!

I took a walk upstream, just in case, and noticed a mature male Common Darter in one of the top pools, but couldn’t track him for a photo. At least the ford had an Emperor this time but, yet again, no Golden-ringed to be seen.

Back downstream I’d noticed that the all resident Golden-ringed had chosen to take time out in the shade, every one choosing to bypass their usual perch and seek the shadows. Maybe it really is too hot for our dragonflies? Except the Keeled of course, who, judging by their aggression, were probably raised in the fires of hell.

An interesting opportunity came with two pairs of Southern Damselflies sharing a small area of the stream to oviposit.

I finished off the day with a male Beautiful Demoiselle.

My reasons for waiting so long to visit one of north Hampshire’s prime dragonfly locations has been the lack of information available. Even a recent request through the forums failed to provide the information I required. Either there wasn’t any first-hand accounts or those who knew its secrets wanted to keep it to themselves.

On Wednesday Paul Winters and I bit the bullet and went to have a look for ourselves, armed with a few grid references for supposedly the key areas. We’d studied google earth hard in an attempt to form a picture in our minds of the area; knowing from first-hand experience the difficulties encountered with unfamiliar forests I didn’t want to waste precious hours getting lost!

Thankfully our intensive map-studying directed us to the key areas without a long walk in, parking perhaps being one of the main difficulties for visitors who aren’t in the know. Within a few minutes of leaving the car we had reached the stream and headed west to locate the two woodland ponds.

There was a faint trace of a path, long overgrown with 2 metre high ferns where a scythe would have been useful. Immediately we were impressed by the numbers of Golden-ringed and Beautiful Demoiselles cramped into this short stretch; surprised in the way that two veterans of the New Forest, long used to prolific sightings of both, can be. It was a good omen.

On reaching the eastern pond we didn’t have to wait long before we witnessed our first Brilliant Emeralds patrolling low down in the shade of the opposite bank. The species I had especially come to see. Attempting a photo at such distance and low light would’ve been difficult, so I decided to wait until we found a more agreeable standpoint.

The cast was completed by Four-spotted Chasers, Downy Emeralds and Brown Hawkers along with a fine array of damsels. The causeway at the western end provided the brightest viewpoint of this predominantly dark water body. Across the overgrown causeway was the western pond, alive with good populations of Red-eyed damselflies flitting between the floating leaves of emergent vegetation or scattered pieces of flotsam.

A repeat of the previous pond’s cast but in greater numbers, including some fine Brown Hawker displays.

Around lunchtime we took advantage of the growing cloud cover to seek out the far heathland ponds at the east of the golden triangle. The view from the stream causeway offered no easy path through the jumble of fern, grasses and discarded timber left presumably after clearing to provide a wealth of invertebrate habitats.

We found a path skirting the northern tree-line which allowed us to survey the heath from above through occasional breaks in the undergrowth. On our side of the valley were ‘scrapes’ created over disused gravel hard-standings to create ideal habitat for incredible numbers of Keeled Skimmers.

Finding a break to access the valley I precariously descended the valley and continued fighting my way through to those ponds, spotting our first Small Reds on the way. I gave up trying to go any further once I’d reached the shoreline of the eastern pond and returned to the upper path where a scattering of muddy puddles on the bend produced a fine array of activity with countless Keeled, Emerald and other damsels chose to feed on the profusion of flies.

Exhausted by tramping through uneven ground and becoming increasingly dehydrated in the sticky heat, we returned to the woodland ponds where we set up camp for the rest of the afternoon. After our jaunt upstream we had accumulated a count of 22 species! Incredible!

While Paul W skirted the area hoping to increase the count, I busied myself attempting to grab an in-flight photo of those Brilliant Emeralds, which were showing more frequently than earlier but still provided a real challenge.

While I was engrossed in my pursuit I had a close visit from my old friend the Southern Hawker, who in typical fashion flew right in to give me the face-to-face and get in on the scene. Sorry mate – I didn’t come prepared for you – and wasn’t about to switch lenses or settings when the Brilliant was still around.

Ideally, when attempting in-flighters, I like to track an incoming subject over several metres of open water so I have time to focus. I didn’t have this luxury with today’s subject. All I had was a couple of metres of canvas to play with, and had to be quick off the mark as a male would appear from out of the over-hanging branches or shadows to offer me a brief glimpse before disappearing off around the corner, or shot into the trees pursued by cranky Downys.

I didn’t take many photos today. I took loads, and had my highest delete rate for a long while hoping to find a jewel among the out-of-focus, noisy or just plain empty shots of the water’s surface. When faced with an unfamiliar species, getting to know the behaviour and attempting to predict the flight path is all good practice. I’ll be better prepared next time!

I’ll end this entry by applauding the delights of Warren Heath. 22 species in a few hours on one day in such a small area is deserved of such a good reputation, despite the lack of available information (or closely-guarded secrets).

The only gripes I have are the lack of footpaths and difficult access to some of the prime areas. Seasoned dragonfly observers aware of the dangers of uneven ground, forbidding undergrowth and sometimes treacherous shoreline should still be vigilant, as a wrong footing or trip can result in disaster.

Parking is also a problem and access limited along the eastern fringes, but is possible for the observant. Research your maps well, and take a printout and compass unless you navigate by memory and the sun’s position.

The upside of this is the lack of the general public, so often a problem with the Brilliant Emeralds preference for highly-populated country parks and waterways in their southern populations.

Our first visit will live long in our memories, the sheer diversity and numbers puts it right at the top as one of the best dragonfly sites in Hampshire, if not the country.

The secret’s out!

(Site information with grid references added to location pages)

There is nothing more spectacular than witnessing swarms of dragonflies at play on a sunny day, and it was such a display that first endeared me to my passion. On Monday I was out early, arriving at Markway Bridge at around 9.00am.

Crossing the stream at an earlier point than usual to make the most of the sun’s position, the Beautifuls and Keeled were already at full swing upstream and would prove to be the dominant species of the day. Enhanced by plenty of Southern, a few Blue-tails and a few more Large Red, a little further downstream I caught a sight of one of only two Scarce Blue-tailed that day, a female along the main stream itself.

The White-legged took a while to awake, with only a few spotted on my first walk downstream. I was in no hurry and was content to watch the truly stunning displays at every open section of the stream. Every point between Markway and the footbridge at the foot of Clumber Inclosure was alive with more action than the observer could comfortably cope with, and I’m pretty sure things would’ve been the same had I gone further, but the fifth Golden-ringed I’d seen kept me amused for a while.

There were countless pairings on offer as opportunities, but there was to be no chasing around today. Far to hot for that – better just to wait until they landed close by.

If I had one mission for the day – besides just enjoying the show – it was to find a pair of White-legged in cop; something I’ve failed to witness, let alone photograph, during previous visits when the closest I got were pairs in tandem along the shore. My reasoning was they chose to mate away from water somewhere in the lush water meadows, still alive with countless buttercups.

Just about the only ones not making hay in the sunshine today were humans from the forestry commission. Thankfully, unlike many locations, the meadows are left alone to thrive instead of being cut to feed the winter cattle.

Unfortunately this is where all our marvellous summer meadows go, along with the insects who thrive on them. And we despair at our loss of summer meadows!

But enough of politics and back to this glorious meadow.

Every know and again a Broad-bodied or Four-spotted Chaser would add to the diversity, but the Ober belonged to the main residents today, with little room for visitors. Not one Emperor was seen, which may have been an advantage to quell the mob tactics of those bullying Keeled against the pacifist nature of the Golden-ringed.

Hard to resist though.

Just about the only species I’d neglected to photograph was the Southern Damselfly, and a pairing wasn’t going to go amiss.

I took a break to replenish the drinks supply before doing another circuit, all the while amazed at simply how many dragonflies there were. Drink well and take your fill while the good weather lasts!

Surely we can now accept that we are having a marvellous summer? The balance has been restored with nature catching up on our lousy spring and the dragonflies are in danger of burning themselves out.

Mindful of the queues clogging up the M27/A31, Sue & I skirted the delays by taking the old roads, meeting Doug at Linford at midday in the hope of pinning down those pesky Brown Hawkers.

A flush through the ferns failed to raise any, but we had a couple of brief visits at the pond. Keeled’s were yet again the dominant species, but the Emperors were catching up with at least 3 males and a couple of females spending time over the water.

We watched one female devour several Common Blue damsels as appetisers before choosing a main course of male Keeled, finishing every morsel except for the wings.

This is the first time I’ve seen a hawker take anything larger than a butterfly, although I knew they were capable. A little gruesome maybe, but a vital behaviour characteristic of nature and a highlight of our day.

A further flush through the ferns still failed to disturb any Brown Hawkers, but at least there was an obliging female Common Blue damselfly offering a final opportunity.

On Sunday Sue & I decided Thursley Common was on the cards and the Brown Hawkers didn’t disappoint, with a total of six males patrolling the moat pond along with a dozen Downy Emerald. No Brilliants today though, although we did have a report of one at the ‘stream’.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to Thursley and completely missed the stream, but as I always say there is no substitute for local knowledge. We found the stream and walked as far as I could before finding a deep hole, but the only offering was a male Black Darter doing the continental obelisk pose in an effort to cool down in the heat.

The board walk had the usual Black-tailed Skimmers and a few Four-spotted Chasers, but even the lizards had chosen to hide themselves away in a shady spot. Loathe am I to complain about the weather, but even I longed for some shady hole to cool down in.

Back at the moat our resident Brown Hawker was still putting on a relentless display, almost welcoming our return and teasing us with fly-throughs and fly-bys, approaching alarmingly close on several occasions, but still not making it any easier to photograph.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Brown Hawker for me far exceeds the flying prowess of the Emperor. The minimal wings beats followed by a series of graceful glides is sheer poetry and I could (and did) watch them for hours.

Mindful not to venture too far after yesterday I decided a day at Crockford was on the cards to restore some peace to this still shattered mind. I stopped first at Ipley Cross where the heather was alive with thousands of Silver-studded Blue butterflies providing welcome entertainment while the could was still melting away.

It wasn’t long before I spotted my first Black Darters.

The heath also threw up a wealth of Keeled Skimmers, the odd Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chaser and good numbers of Emerald Damselflies.

Onwards to Crockford, or more correctly Beaulieu Heath where I walked in to Two Bridges Bottom. Alarmingly the upper reaches was lacking in the usual action with only a few Southern, Small Red, Beautiful and Keeled appearing in small numbers. The pond at the top did at least have a little more action with a host of damsels and an ovipositing female Emperor.

On my walk up and back I was mobbed by an overly-protective Curlew, which at least provided some fabulous views.

A walk downstream provided a Four-spotted Chaser and increasingly larger numbers of the usual cast awakening. About halfway down I had my first Golden-ringed sighting and at the crossing point I witnessed a pairing on the other bank. They glided back and forth along the gorse stand before choosing the complete their union low down on bog myrtle underneath the gorse.

I couldn’t believe my luck! Panic set in as I crossed the stream and approached , crawling on my belly afraid at scaring them off. Luckily they stayed put and I had chance to fiddle with various settings to make the most of the mostly shaded area they had chosen.

I must add when I rose I was covered in ants. I thought the tingling was excitement! After grabbing my fill and accepting I wasn’t going to get a better result, I headed down to the main area where I bumped into Brian Walker and showed him their location. No reason why I should keep them to myself after all.

I took my seat at my preferred bank and just watched the passing traffic. The Beautifuls, Keeled and a resident Golden-ringed were entertainment enough. While I was watching the bullying tactics of the male Keeled, constantly harassing and attacking the Golden-ringed, through the woods came Stephen Darlington who fancied a little GR action himself today.

Where else was there to go? In my opinion this was a perfect antidote to the speed and stresses of yesterday.

We even had a pair of Beautifuls join for just a few seconds in front of us.

I can stress that in my opinion if you cannot manage to photograph a Golden-ringed at Crockford on a fine, sunny day in July, then you’d best give up photographing dragonflies!

Many opportunities presented themselves, and I have to admit I shot a few, and when my attention wasn’t occupied by the two males battling, the odd coupling and those pesky Keeled, I caught sight of a rather fabulous female Southern Damselfly.

I decided to take the long, slow stroll back via Two Bridges Bottom just in case and reflected on what had been a fabulous, and peacefully relaxing, day.

Save

After a blissful day sailing around Poole Harbour on Tuesday I was raring to go again on Wednesday, but fate decided as I’d had such a fine day previously I needed a little stress to reset the balance.

The chance to venture further afield decided my options and I headed for Esher Common. The long, boring slog up the M3 at far too quick a pace after being used to 40 mph maximums down delightful country lanes rattled me somewhat, and the lack of action at Black Pond further blackened my mood.

Don’t get me wrong, there were several Four-spotted Chasers and Black-tailed Skimmers providing a show, and a couple of fly-bys from a Downy Emerald. An male Emperor circumnavigated the small island and a female flew in the oviposit. No Brilliants, but in all honesty the weather had taken a turn with increasing cloud cover and a relentless wind!

I couldn’t believe the sun had disappeared!

I decided to circumnavigate the pond and search the heaths, which did at least provide a pair of Black-tailed Skimmers in cop.

One more session at the corner before jacking it in and moving on to Thursley Common. At least I felt more comfortable there. Unfortunately the cloud persisted and the Moat Pond had only one Downy patrolling. Oh, and a Grass Snake swimming from one shore to another.

Of more interest was the boggy corner, where several damsels were holed up against the cooling breeze., including this immature male White-legged.

A walk around the heath threw up several Emerald Damselflies and my first Black Darters of the year.

Consolation at least for what turned out to be a disappointing day.

Anther cracking day on Monday, and an ideal time to revisit Latchmore Brook My early arrival (9.30am) meant it might be a while before some action, but this worry was soon put to rest with the disturbance of 2 Brown Hawkers among the ferns leading down to Latchmore Shade.

It goes without saying they were up and away beyond the treeline…

Shortly afterwards I spotted my first male Scarce Blue-tailed at the first flush, but didn’t see any at the second. Across the water both flushes had several males and a few females and there were even a couple within the main stream.

On arrival at the upper flushes I caught sight of another early bird and was pleased to bump into Steve Cham, busy himself searching out SBT’s.

While waiting for a decent opportunity over water I busied myself among the heather and fern where a pair of Small Red were in cop.

We scoured the flushes, looking in places I wouldn’t normally consider looking, finding a good population of males within the boggier, shallow areas.

In another channel were more males and a few females, including one ovipositing.

While we were actively scouring the heather borders, two gentlemen arrived armed with printouts of some of my NF guides. I’d like to take this opportunity to say hello and hope you found Christchurch/Town Common and had a fruitful day dragon-flying.

It’s reassuring to know that my guides are proving useful by visitors unfamiliar with the area. In my opinion there is no substitute for local knowledge and I appreciate any chance of help I get when searching unfamiliar locations.

On the way back downstream I found a simply stunning teneral female in one of the stream-side flushes.

Further along I took advantage of a captive Emperor to practice different focal lengths for in-flighters.

Not bad for 270mm

After a walk back to the car to replenish supplies, I decided to do another round in search of Golden-ringed, a species which I’d failed to see up until this point. I had my first sighting at the stream leading down from Gypsy Hollows. In the heat of the afternoon he appeared to seek out a shady resting spot, which didn’t make it easy for a photo.

Back downstream I noticed a few more passing, and further along an Emperor obligingly perched close by.

Quite simply another fabulous day at Latchmore.

I love a good half or full day following the course of a river or stream, especially if it offers a choice of habitats to explore and a rich level of diversity to satisfy my cravings. In my last post I mentioned I was wary about burning myself out too soon, so took a more relaxing approach last weekend.

On Saturday afternoon Sue & I headed over to ‘Golden Pond’ ( I love it how that name has stuck) fully aware of the cast we would encounter. A male Emperor immediately drew my attention, feeling it was an ideal opportunity to practice those in-flights.

This was taken at my favoured 195mm, but it was a good day to experiment with longer zoom. Can I grab one at 270mm? I could, but not sharp enough…yet.

We are ridiculously blessed with more Keeled’s than you can cope with, but that doesn’t mean you could try another.

I took a walk through the gorse thicket towards the bridge where I spotted my first Scarce Blue-tailed at this location on the advice of Paul Winters. This male was soon lost from sight and I crossed over the boggy area to attempt a glimpse from the other side, but to no avail.

It wasn’t the last I’d see today.

Back at the pond there were several pairings of Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers.

There were several male to male battles among the Emperors, but this encounter got me curious.

It’s also hard to resist our blessed Four-spotted Chasers when they offer a face-on encounter.

And those prolific Keeled again…

Paul W arrived at the pond and found the first Small Red-eyed Damselfly of the season…which I completely failed to get a shot of.

Another male Scarce Blue-tailed was found on the pond itself, moving purposely through the channel. Purposely tramping through the pond margin at a reasonably frantic pace, Sue spotted what she at first thought was a beetle byt turned out to be Darter nymph.

An excellent find at the end of our visit was this female Scarce Blue=tailed.

On Sunday we headed over to Pennington where apart from a selection of damsels among the grass, was rather disappointing. A few more damsels chose the inlets for most of their subdued activity and the far end had a few Black-tailed Skimmers and this rather interesting looking Emperor.

One path of enquiry has tentatively identified it as an odd Anax imperator. Does anyone have an opinion? If so, I’d be very grateful to hear from you.

At least there was no mistaking this individual.

And about time too. Finally our friend the Jet Stream has chosen a more favourable position giving us some much-welcomed heat, sunshine and calm winds. Perfect!

Which is why at this point I must apologise at the lack of a recent update. With weather like this and a chance to be out in the field rather than stuck at the computer, do you really blame me?

Eager to make the most of it, but conscious of not burning out too soon, I decided to celebrate the good weather with a return to Ober Water on Friday. Good to know the car park at Puttles Bridge can still provide three of the key New Forest species. Among the ferns were Small Red, Southern and Keeled Skimmers.

I’m sure if you stood on the footbridge and watched the stream for a while you’d see a passing Golden-ringed. Some picnic!

Taking the heath path opposite the car park towards Rhinefield Bridge I disturbed more or less the same, the Keeled in particular being represented by all ages and sexes in exceptional numbers.

Still early, I jumped off the path just before Rhinefield to explore the buttercup-strewn grassy water meadow on the east bank, finding several teneral male and female White-legged, along with yet more Small Red and the odd Southern.

Across the stream it was pretty much the same, with a lot more Keeled.

A mating pair of Silver-studded Blue butterflies offered an irresistible opportunity.

I saw my first Golden-ringed at around 10.00am, otherwise the activity over the water was restricted to Beautiful Demoiselles, Large Red and, yes, you’ve guessed it, more Keeled.

I headed west to my favourite part of the stream primarily in search of more White-legged, but just peacefully happy to be there. So peacefully happy I ditched the rucksack and just sat on the bank watching the activity for a while.

Several times.

Further upstream I saw my one and only Scarce Blue-tailed of the day, in a flush further downstream than their usual place. Their usual place didn’t produce any, but there were a few normal Blue-tailed joining the Southern and Azure.

On the way back downstream I spotted a pair of Beautiful Demoiselles in tandem and followed their hap-hazard flight as they drifted across the lawn, flush and stream several times before choosing a place to complete the wheel in the meadow.

Just after I had the same thing happen with a pair of Keeled.

I was anxious to get some more White-legged photos, hopefully a pair in cop, but the best I could manage was tandem.

That’s three pairs in a row. Maybe I should take up poker!

A little further back downstream a male offered a decent opportunity.

A little further I took another stop on the bank, watching passing Southern, Large Red, White-legged, Beautiful Demoiselles, Broad-bodied Chasers and battling Keeled. One decided his patch wasn’t going to be taken away from him and he proved cooperative enough to attempt an in-flighter.

A passing Southern perched agreeably.

I could’ve, and should’ve, stayed in this spot all day. As it was I continued downstream and bumped into Paul Winters just past Rhinefield Bridge, where we were lucky enough to witness the pairing of Golden-ringed who promptly lifted together before completing their union 5 metres up a tree. Paul found them with his bins, but my eyesight couldn’t pick them out even with his optics, so a photo was out of the question.

We reluctantly parted our ways, me more from thirst than any other reason, but things pretty much died after that, except for a superb encounter with a Golden-ringed at one of my favourite crossing points

After quenching my thirst on more supplies from the car, I did a circuit of Silver Stream before moving on to Mill Lawn, which proved a bit of an anti-climax. Very few Beautiful Demoiselles parading the main stream, and only Southern, Small Red and Keeled occupying the flushes.

I really must consider my options and stay put in the future, which is exactly what I did do at Latchmore a few days later, after a weekend pause at the pond and Pennington.

So keep watching and I’ll endeavour to catch up, but allow me the time to make the most of the summer we deserve.

We decided to nip out for a late afternoon encounter with some damsels at Swanwick Nature Reserve on Sunday. My main priority, once again, were the Blue-tailed – any excuse to further nailing damsels with the Sigma 70-300mm as opposed to the 105mm macro.

Here are a selection from our short visit:-

There were also several Azure and Common Blue scattered throughout the reserve

The only larger prey we saw were Black-tailed Skimmers.

As the good weather continued into Monday, I decided to revisit Ober Water, starting at the Puttles Bridge car park where once again there were Plenty of Small Red and Keeled Skimmers in the ferns and bog myrtle.

Immediately across the road in amongst the bog myrtle and heather were several more and even a few Silver-studded Blue butterflies. I kept course through the bog avoiding any difficulty, and following the upper path to Rhinefield Bridge. Besides several more Keeled and a female Emperor, I had to wait until I reached the bridge before I saw any more action.

Doubling back across the stream to a favourite area where a few Southern, Large Red and Beautiful Demoiselles were starting to populate the stream. Shortly after, at about 10.15am, I saw my one and only Golden-ringed of the day.

Once again the promising weather turned with increasing cloud and an interruption in the warming sun. This curtailed most activity and it was another half-hour before I found any sign of White-legged – several tenerals rising from the stream.

At the dog-leg there were a few normal Blue-tailed but no sign of any Scarce Blue-tailed. By now activity had picked up again, but still subdued with Azure, Southern, Large Red and more teneral White-legged. A few teneral Small Red were also present around the margins and a quite stunning teneral Beautiful Demoiselle rose before me to glide across the heather.

Despite spending a good while at the White-legged hotspot, I had to wait until the return leg before I found any mature males.

Even more sightings back over Rhinefield Bridge before I had to return. At least the walk back to the car park provided my first Common Darter of the year.