Late Summer Dragon and Damselfly Highlights.

 Just a few days after returning from the Dolomites, Lisa and I were off to Wales to visit a couple of her friends from her University days. To be honest I was probably too tired to go, but with the chance of catching up with the Common Hawker dragonfly, a species that had escaped me before, it was an opportunity too good to miss, as well as meeting Carl and Clare again who were both perfect hosts during our short stay.

On the way to Cardiff we called into Newport Wetlands. Unfortunately, the weather was not particularly good for dragonflies, but we were pleased to see a few species, most notably, the Lesser Emperor.

The following day, we travelled to an area near Abergavenny where after climbing high we were pleased to find large numbers of Emerald Damselfly. After some time one of the males settled long enough for a few shots.

Emerald Damselfly.

We then climbed higher up the mountain and in a couple of acid pools we were delighted to finally catch up with the Common Hawker. These were extremely active, despite the weather once again deteriorating. I only had my macro lens which made it even worse, but I did enjoy simply watching the dragonflies. Lisa also found what was almost certainly an excuvia of the Common Hawker.

Probable Common Hawker excuvia.

We did see a few mating pairs of Common Hawker, but even these didn't settle anywhere in sight, so our only chance of photographing them was in flight, or when a female started to egg lay in the margins of the pool. It wasn't even worth me trying to photograph them in flight with my macro, so it was only when one female was egg laying more in the open that I borrowed Lisa's camera and zoom to photograph her that I got my first ever photo of a Common Hawker.

Female Common Hawker egg laying.

Other notable species we saw there were Golden-ringed, Keeled Skimmer and Black Darter, but the other species that I was hoping to see, the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly was not forthcoming. Little did I know at that time that I was going to get an opportunity much closer to home soon!!

Earlier in the year I had heard through the grapevine, that a colony of Scarce Emerald Damselflies had been found close to home. I had only seen this species once before in the UK and that was some years ago in Essex. The week before I was told where the site was I had been seeing this species in Bulgaria, where it is known as the Small Spreadwing. It is always nice to get local sightings though, so at my earliest opportunity I visited the small site and almost immediately found a single, followed by a mating pair of this Sussex rarity.

Scarce Emerald Damselflies mating.

Having seen the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly in Bulgaria, but missing it in Wales, I was very surprised when I heard that a very small colony had been found in Sussex by a friend. Even more so, when a couple of weeks later, a 2nd Sussex colony turned up. There has presumably been an influx of these species into the southern counties. It certainly is exciting times for studying dragonflies and damselflies. This was a totally new species for me in the UK.

Male Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly.

The 2nd site also held fresher individuals. The original finder also had seen a mating pair, although on our visit we only found males.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly.

During the late summer I have also seen and photographed a few other species, in sites such as Ashdown Forest and my local patch. A few of my favourite images follow.

Male Southern Migrant Hawker.

Female Migrant Hawker.

Male Southern Hawker.

Male Willow Emerald.

Male White-legged Damselfly.

Male Small Red Damselfly.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly on Heather.