Back in late July the heatwave was in full swing, which had limited the amount of wildlife on show as the hot sun and dwindling water levels put pressure on many species. The crickets and grasshoppers were doing well and early one morning this speckled bush cricket seemed determined to pose for me. Its long…
The Southern Migrant or Blue Eyed Hawkers have appeared again at Wat Tyler Country Park. Here is a statement that needs reading before going any further. We are pleased to say that the Southern Migrant Hawker dragonfly has been seen once again in Wat Tyler Country Park. Due to issues in previous years with the…
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST – if you share any Southern migrant hawker sightings from Wat Tyler CP please link/post the text in bold on this link Can everyone please keep to the paths and boardwalks and avoid trampling any surrounding pond vegetation, as the park is an SSSI. If similar trampling/damage is caused in this year as was…
Please the read introduction text on this post first HERE (which also has some other useful info) Weather was patchy sun and cloud with a strong wind, turning completely cloudy before 2.30pm when I saw it and it apparently is disappeared not too long after . I saw 1 male on 2 brief visits on…
A post to update on the southern migrant hawkers in Wat Tyler CP. They have been seen most days , generally with sightings occurring in the afternoon, peaking between 2 and 4pm but I observed them on evening at 6.20pm Reports of up to 4 males on Sunday 4/8/13 were sent to me, from the…
On Tuesday I visited one of my favourite sites, Crockford Stream. The site is amazing for dragonflies and damselflies, including golden ringed dragonflies. The site is also a good one for the rare southern damselfly. It was good to see a few tandem pairs of these great little blue damselflies. The keeled skimmers were in…
At lunchtime I bumped into a couple of folks looking for the southern migrant hawker (one of who was Simon NL on Flickr, click his name to see his excellent pics). I got a couple of photos of the perched male today: Sadly with my Sigma 150-500mm rather than my 300mm prime, which I can’t…
There were a few people in Wat Tyler CP today looking for the Southern migrant hawker dragonfly. If you are unfamiliar with this species see my last post. Today I was unable to use my long lens so didn’t get any more of it in flight, but at the end of the day I got…
In 2010 a number of Southern migrant hawker dragonflies (Aeshna affinis) turned up at Hadleigh Country Park, a few miles East of Wat Tyler CP. They also turned up at Vange Wick (not Vange Marsh) just to the south of Wat Tyler CP, so I’ve been hoping they would turn up here. Last year, I…
On Sunday I visited Crockford Bridge, a stream well known for its dragon and damselflies. My target species was the southern damselfly, one of the rarest species in the UK and one I had never seen. It didn’t take me long to find one! Here is a pic of my first ever southern damselfly! They…