Violet dropwing

The ponds on the golf course where I live just outside Cairo attract a few dragonflies. This is a violet dropwing on a hibiscus.

Species a day

Some more species from a walk at the RHS in Wisley.

Emperor dragonfly, Surrey, England

Pied wagtail, Surrey, England

Little grebe, Surrey, England

Magpie, Surrey, England

Emperor dragonfly

I've been trying to get some photos of an emperor dragonfly for a couple of weeks. They are over 3 inches long but highly territorial and difficult to approach. This individual posed just long enough on water lilies at the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley in Surrey.

Its size can be seen from the common blue damselflies that were mobbing it like crows mob an eagle.

Species a day

More new species...

Ringlet, Surrey, England

White-legged damselfly, Surrey, England

Beautiful demoiselle, Surrey, England

Large skipper, Surrey, England

Comma, Surrey, England

Wey Navigation Canal: New butterflies and damselflies

I took my 400mm lens on a walk along the Wey Navigation Canal today. It may not be as good a lens as the 100mm dedicated Canon macro I have but its 'reach' means I can shoot from the hip and grab a few of the more mobile subjects.

This meant I captured reasonable photos of 3 new damselfly species and 3 new butterflies.

White-legged damselfly

Common blue damselfly

Beautiful demoiselle

Large skipper

Ringlet

Comma

Species a day

More photos for my species a day challenge...

Banded demoiselle, Surrey, England

Blue-tailed damselfly, Surrey, England

Muntjac deer, Surrey, England

Odonata on the Wey Navigation Canal

We're going through a bit of a mini heatwave in England this weekend and I went for a lunchtime walk along the Wey Navigation Canal in Surrey.

July and August are the best months to see odonata in flight and the canal is home to several species. Damselflies were most evident particularly banded demoiselle and several other species were hawking the waters edges including azure damselfly, large red damselfly and I got my first photo of a blue-tailed damselfly.

There were also several huge emperor dragonfly patrolling mid-stream but they were too mobile for photos.

I'm not too skilled at odonata identification so I may return tomorrow a little bit earlier for another attempt at some photos, the morning should be a bit cooler and the insects a bit less active.

Other sightings of note were a muntjac deer, a pair of common buzzard and a large grass snake (about 18" long) that swam across the canal from below my feet.

Blue-tailed damselfly

Large red damselfly

Male banded demoiselle

Male banded demoiselles

First damselflies of the summer

I took a bike ride along the Wey Navigation Canal in Surrey yesterday armed with my 100mm Canon macro lens. There were no dragonflies to be seen but there were plenty of mayfly hatching and taking to the air for their one day adult life in the sunshine.

I did however find three species of damselfly. Several handsome male banded demoiselle which were a bit too flighty for photographs. But I did manage to stalk several azure and large red damselfly for photos.

Azure damselfly

Azure damselfly

Large red damselfly

Dragonflies from Jizan

It's not just african birds that spend the summer in the Asir Mountains, dragonflies such as the banded groundling can also be found there.

Banded groundling

Broad scarlet

Violet dropwing

Another trip to Ha'ir

The extreme heat in Saudi at this time of year doesn't lend itself to exploring pastures new so I spent Friday morning at Ha'ir pivot fields again south east of Riyadh. A good find was the osprey that over wintered on the river but apart from that there wasn't much about. It shouldn't be too long until autumn migrants start passing through though.

Male namaqua dove

Carmine darter

A full list of the 21 species of bird seen is HERE on e-Bird

Dragonflies

Still slow on the bird front, summer visitors to this part of the world are understandably few. But I did see a couple of pallid swift at Ha'ir pivot fields which could be early migrants. Barn swallow were hawking over the cut grass in good numbers with plenty of locally fledged young sporting their short tail streamers.

One thing this part of the world isn't short of is dragonflies. The run off pools around the edges of the fields provide good hunting grounds for these aerial masters. The commonest of the odonata species is the slender skimmer but more easy to see with their bright scarlet bodies is the carmine darter.

Carmine darter

Slender skimmer

A full list of the 19 species of birds seen is HERE on e-Bird.