DRAGONFLY HUNTING (27-06-10)

Now that I had the Dragonfly bug, I decided to try a place I'd never visited before - Kibblesworth Pond. I have since discovered that I parked at the wrong end, but to be honest I didnt mind cos it meant I had to walk through some gorgeous meadows to get to the Pond, which meant I kicked up quite a lot of Butterflies and Moths. The following were all seen; (Butterflies) MEADOW BROWN, GREEN VEINED WHITE, RINGLET, SMALL HEATH, SMALL SKIPPER, COMMON BLUE. (Moths) 5-SPOT & 6-SPOT BURNETS, SHADED BROADBAR, SILVER Y. When I got to the Pond, one of the first things I saw was a gorgeous EMPEROR DRAGONFLY, mainly cos its so big it stands out a mile! In total there were at least 5 of these around. As usual there were tonnes of COMMON BLUE and BLUE TAILED DAMSELFLIES, with a few LARGE REDS thrown in. At least 4 FOUR SPOTTED CHASERS were seen, along with a couple of BLACK TAILED SKIMMERS, one of which kept landing on the shore right in front of me. As good as this was, it turned out to be a great morning as I managed to see 3 new species for the year. First off, two COMMON DARTERS were hunting over the Pond quite close to the shore. Next while strolling around the edge of the water I noticed one or two EMERALD DAMSELFLIES sunning themselves on the long stems. It definately looked like they were newly emerged, and talking to a guy there he said he hadnt seen any the day before. The highlight of the morning though was an absolutely stunning male BANDED DEMOISELLE. As Dragonflies go this is a beauty. It came in off the Pond, hung around the shore for a minute or two then went over my head and kept climbing higher in the sky until I lost sight of it altogether. I'd only ever seen one before, when I was at Rutland Water two years ago, so was chuffed to see this little stunner. So for a first visit, it definately left a great impression!