www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Had a bit of a lay in on Saturday ~ got up at 0930 and made my way downstairs to make a pot of tea for the family all still in bed...

Looking out of the kitchen window, I saw a large Dragonfly cruising up and down our patio in the warm morning sunshine. It then dived under a bush near my greenhouse and settled down inside the bush, hanging from the leaves. It was still there at 1030 ~ such a long resting period on such a fine sunny day was puzzling. Dragonflies do not hang about for long in my experience. I got my camera and after a careful approach, got one or two images.

This first shot was from about two feet away. The insect was not disturbed by the camera or the flash so I moved in closer for the next shot:~





The Dragon fly was there all day ~ checked it frequently and even took a flash image closer up when after dark about 2215hrs:~



Next morning it was still there until my wife, concerned that it might be dieing, gently shook the bush and it immediately flew away.

I believe it was still a relatively freshly emerged individual as the full blue colouring had not yet fully developed as it would in a more mature individual.

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Hi Cotswold

Looks like a teneral (fresh) female Southern Hawker to me. Probably resting up while wings dried out.

Will wrote:Hi Cotswold

Looks like a teneral (fresh) female Southern Hawker to me. Probably resting up while wings dried out.

Yes, I was thinking along those lines. There is a large flood balancing lake about 200 metres away as the Hawker flies and it possibly originated from there. Quite an interesting site that with a variety of wildlife to observe.

When I was twelve, not far from where I currentky live, was a small pond in the corner of a field. I had been treated to a child's ponding net on a five foot bamboo cane. Many fields in the area had such ponds ~ originally there for thirsty livestock ~ and the first time I tried my net for tadpoles in that pond, I netted a fully grown dragonfly larva, the appearance of which scared me at the time as I had no idea what it was. I now know what I netted then was a mature larva of Cordulegaster boltonii (?sp) The Golden ringed dragonfly IIRC ~ probably the ugliest, scariest larva in the history of creation ~ well that's what I thought at the time....

ETA @ 15:07

None of those ponds, fields and wildlife exist anymore. Only roads, shops and houses ... one of those houses is mine....

What's habitat destruction Dad?

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