'Common' Club-tail and other Dragons.

 I have only managed to see the not so common Common Club-tail Dragonfly on one other occasion, and that was back in 2017, so this year, I was determined to see these brilliant dragonflies again.

It was also a totally new species for Lisa, and as the site is also only 30-40 minutes away from her home it is much easier to get to from there. In just over a week we have made the most of this year being a particularly good season for them too by visiting the site twice.

Not only are there reasonable numbers of this rare dragonfly, but there are also enormous quantities of Banded Demoiselles and a variety of other odonata species.

By visiting the same area twice we have also worked out the favoured area of the river for the Club-tails and seen their behaviour, both territorial, and where they like to rest up. At one point I had 4 males flying around me trying to win the territorial battle for the favoured bush. In the end I took far more photographs than I needed to, but at least I now have plenty of shots, although it was only the males we were seeing most of the time. The only female we saw rested just briefly on a bush before shooting off in the reeds and disappearing, probably egg laying?

Male Common Club-tail.

Male Common Club-tail on his look out perch.

Male Common Club-tail.

Male Common Club-tail.

Male Common Club-tail.

Female Common Club-tail. (our only sighting of a female).

On our walk along the river the many Banded Demoiselles were often trying to pair up. We did see several matings, which were quite a short encounter. Only one encounter really gave us a good photo opportunity when the pair were perched on a lovely reed.

Mating Banded Demoiselles.

 It looks as though he is celebrating scoring!!

A sparkling Female Banded Demoiselle.

2023 is looking a particularly poor year for many butterfly species, but dragonflies and damselflies seem to be doing extremely well. On some of my other local trips I have been seeing plenty of other species and have managed a few photos that are hopefully worth posting.

Immature Scarce Chaser.

Male Scarce Chaser.

Broad-bodied Chaser.

Broad-bodied Chaser.

Female Beautiful Demoiselle.

Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Male Hairy Dragonfly.

Male Hairy Dragonfly.

Male Beautiful Demoiselle.

Mating Azure Damselflies.