Red-veined Darter.

 It's been said many times for sure, always have your camera with you, just in case you find something really good!!

Some of us never learn of course. So on Tuesday, the weather was not particularly promising, and I just fancied a walk without the weight of the camera gear. I was walking along the valley on my patch, when I spotted 3 butterflies sitting next to each other. A Speckled Wood, Peacock and a Small Copper. That would make a nice photo I thought. I took the phone out of the pocket to at least get a record shot, when the Speckled Wood, followed by the Small Copper took off. Oh well, not a big issue. 2 steps further on though it all became a bit more serious. There were quite a few Common Darter dragonflies patrolling around and I saw one just in front of me, this one however looked a lot fresher, so I quickly looked through the binoculars and saw it had blue eyes. Wow, straight away I realised I had the rare Red-veined Darter. The phone came back out again, this time to try and get at least a record shot of the dragonfly to prove what I had found. Of course, the phone would only focus behind the insect, but you could just make out the blue eyes. I didn't even have my glasses with me that would have helped to see that the image was terrible, but such is life. However, the dragonfly had vanished anyway, and after a search I gave up and carried on with my walk.

The following day, I decided that I might just as well head back to see if the insect was hanging around. I knew it was a very long shot, particularly as the weather was still a bit poor for dragonflies. This time I did have the camera. As soon as I arrived I spotted the dragonfly again. It was clearly the same one as it had a nasty bend in the abdomen. I managed 6 quick photos before it vanished again and couldn't be found again, but at least I had some half decent photos of it now. I could also now see that it was a teneral (immature) male.

Male teneral Red-veined Darter.

I thought that would be the end of the story, but I then had a message from Polly, a local dragonfly enthusiast, asking if I could help her to see it, so the following day, I once again headed up to the valley. Polly was already there, but not quite in the right spot. We then walked a tiny bit further and while we were chatting, she spotted the dragonfly, once again very close to the spot where I had first seen him. Once again the weather was not that warm, although when the sun came out it did warm up quickly, but the dragonfly flew a short distance a few times. One time we saw it just before the sun went in, and after a couple of minutes it was clear the temperature had got too cold for it to fly. This gave us the chance to take many more photos. 

Above, probably my best image of the dragonfly. It even hides the bent abdomen.

Male teneral Red-veined Darter.

After Polly left, James arrived to see it, but not long before he arrived I saw the dragonfly fly away a little way, and that was the last time I saw it, despite searching with James for an hour or so!!

The big question is, was it British bred, or has it migrated over from the continent. There have been very few records this year for the species in the UK and the nearest known site where they breed is over the far end of Kent at Dungeness and Sandwich. They did used to breed for a few years at West Rise Marsh at the back of Eastbourne, but I don't believe they have been seen there now for several years. This was the only place that I've seen them before in the UK although they are quite common in many parts of southern Europe.

On the 2 sessions I had with the camera, I did see a few other things of interest to photograph. This included a Knot Grass larva right where the dragonfly was.

Knot Grass larva.

I also found a new species for me a little further along the valley. This was a parasitic fly called an Ectophasia crassipennis. This species was first seen on the British mainland in 2019, so is a new arrival. It has apparently spread far and wide, and although far from common, there have now been 60 records in Sussex. It certainly is a rather nice looking fly, although not if you are a shield-bug!!

Ectophasia crassipennis.

I also came across a rather nice Common Lizard which allowed a very close approach.

Common Lizard.

Will I always have my camera with me in the future? Well, probably not, because I do enjoy a casual walk at times!!