I hadn’t planned to venture too far on Thursday, if at all considering the forecast. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the met office admitted it just didn’t know? As it was the dear old sun made more of an appearance at the pond than it did at Mill Lawn yesterday.
Plenty of activity over the water with the usual Broad-bodied and Four-spotted – the latter being the most numerous. There were several pairings with the FSC’s completing their union in about 5 seconds. The BBC’s last around 15 seconds, just enough time to track and pan if you’re ready for them, but you can never predict their erratic course.
Joining the chasers were Keeled Skimmers, a Downy Emerald and a couple of male Emperors.
Both individuals time-shared the same patch with a quick battle on changeover. On one occasion the pair fell to to margin of the pond below my feet; unfortunately too close to get a shot regardless of my reaction. Luckily one of the patrollers took a quick break at the edge of the reeded island.
The gorse thicket threw up a nice selection of roosting chasers, some Keeled and a Downy while the surrounding ferns produced Large and Small Red, Azure and some nice, fresh Emeralds.
Returning to the pond itself, I contented myself getting used to manual focus on the Sigma 70-300mm. Not as intuitive as the macro prime, but a compromise to get me closer to the action.
