Wow what a stunning few days we've had. Not so great for a three and a half week old baby, but great for dragonflies which is why I had a wander around Lower Bruckland Ponds this afternoon.
This proved a great move with a stunning surprise in the form of a male Lesser Emperor at 3pm over the top pond. This is the third Lesser Emp I've found here (previous being 16th July 2006 and 10th August 2012) and turns out this afternoon several have appeared in the UK. Sadly no pics as it didn't settle, and I last saw it being chased by an Emperor towards the next pond down. Fingers crossed it hangs around, all my previous have been multi-observed and I'd like to keep that record up!
Other notable Odonata on show this afternoon included my first Small Red-eyed Damselflies of the year, with at least five males on the smallest two ponds, am pretty sure these are fairly early too. Also still at least nine Scarce Chaser on the wing, seven lone males and an ovipositing pair. The more usual fare included 15+ Emperor, 20+ Black-tailed Skimmer, five Four-spotted Chaser, three Beautiful Demoiselle, two Banded Demoiselle, one Broad-bodied Chaser and the usual damselfly species. And now for some pretty pictures...
Here's two different Small Red-eyed Damselflies...
Three different male Scarce Chasers...
A Beautiful Demoiselle...
And VERY unusually for this blog - a flower! A rather long-stemmed Common Spotted (I think!?) Orchid...
And I just had to photograph this Coot chick on its completely exposed nest. Most Coot nests here are nicely tucked away...
I have also got a bit of birding news to catch up with. I've already enjoyed three early morning wanders around the Axe Wetlands with Harry...
Each time I've heard singles of singing male Common and Lesser Whitethroats from the field to the south of the entrance track to Black Hole Marsh. Interestingly the Axe Estuary Ringing Group recently trapped a breeding female Lesser White on Stafford Marsh as well, which is great news. There certainly seems to be plenty of young passerines about this year too which is encouraging - it looks to have been a good breeding season for many species.
Sometime last week I has a Hobby from the back garden, not before time as they have been regular around here this summer. Red Kites are also clearly still around in some number, I had one over Colyton on Wednesday of last week and received emails informing me of low flying birds over Musbury (two) and Colyford on different days within the past week.
Apologies for the lack of posts lately guys, a mostly awake sometimes crying baby hasn't helped the cause. Although actually tonight he really did help...
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