Thanks Allan. No mixed matings yet, but I have been seeing a lot of willow emeralds in cop over the last few days (pictures below).
Buzzard - it's going to be very strange for me, too, not seeing Queens of Spain in the winter months!!
Thanks Wurzel. I think I've still never seen a ruff in summer finery - only the rather motley individuals that come through on passage.
I hear what you're saying, Goldie. But I always try to make the most of things and I'm sure there's something fantastic just waiting for me to discover on my local patch!
David and Maximus, I'm glad you don't mind the bird shots! I've been so spoilt for butterflies over the last 30 years I've rather lost the habit of birding ... It's fun to get back to it.
When I've had a moment recently I've been searching for likely dragonfly spots within a short cycle from Woodbridge. The best I've found so far has turned up common and ruddy darters, migrant and southern hawkers, black-tailed skimmers, blue-tailed and common blue damsels and of course willow emeralds.
Here's a pair of willow emeralds in cop, male above, female below:
Yesterday there were dozens of pairs of common darters in cop (more strictly, in tandem), the males flying and dipping the females' abdomen tips in the water to lay. There are two such pairs in this shot:
This is a blue-tailed damselfly:
And this a common blue:
Here's a migrant hawker:
All those were photographed standing at the same spot on a lakeside edge. I have high hopes for rarer vagrants dropping in there! One of the darters perhaps ...
The butterflies still flying yesterday at that site were large, small and green-veined white, speckled wood, small copper and brown argus. It will soon be time for egg-hunting.
Guy