Please the read introduction text on this post first HERE (which also has some other useful info)
The headline news as it were is Tim Caroen yesterday managed to track down some tandem pair Southern migrant hawkers on RSPB West Canvey Marshes and a male on RSPB/Buglife Canvey Wick.
No such luck for me today at Wat Tyler CP, though I reckon I saw 4 males, though only 2 at a time. It was sunny most the morning popped out at 12ish and did a 15min walk around the likely sites saw 1 male on the ramp and racked up 2 elsewhere, 3 males were seen around the pond early in the morning by others, who also had a 4th elsewhere.
I walked back to the pond around 3pm, and I was buzzed by a SMH male as I passed the Ice Cream kiosk which stayed on the eastern side of the pond where it was hovering a bit more than usual over the ever decreasing amount of open water, though a sallow tree made getting the right side of the dragonfly with the sun awkward, this problem was soon solved by the sun disappearing!I spent sometime on the concrete ramp too photographing a male, which based on the markings on the face was the same individual. However on the east side it chased another male off a couple of times and on one occasion pursued a juvenile reed warbler at speed!
Despite the cloudy conditions I got a few OK shots.
One with the sun out but in wrong directionAnd the only one with sun in roughly the right direction.
A head on, but cropped a fair bit.
UK Wildlife
Talks and Wildlife Photography
