Preparing for Dragonfly Day at Paxton

Today is our Dragonfly day at Paxton Pits reserve with walks in the morning and afternoon - thankfully in cooler conditions according to the forecast. Yesterday we did short walks in the heat just to check on what is around. Certainly the Migrant Hawkers are the stars with their stationary hovering as well as frequent perching but there are Brown Hawkers, Common and Ruddy Darters and some Damselflies on the wing as well as some incomers this year such as the Lesser Emperor and Southern Migrant Hawker though with a reserve as large as Paxton, sightings cannot be guaranteed!! Plenty of other insects if the flying conditions are right such as the Beewolf Wasp.

Guided Walks – Dragonfly Day – Paxton Pits Nature Reserve

Update from Paxton

Today I did a recce with Ann and Mike for the Macro Session with the RPSNature Group on Sunday at Paxton Pits as I was apprehensive with the drought conditions that there would be enough to photograph. In the morning we walked in the fields and along the Meadow trail with macro gear and found enough subjects to keep people happy for one session. In the afternoon, we photographed along the Haul Road where there were lots of hunting Dragons  including Migrant Hawkers. Later in the Cobham Hide there was a Brown Hawker laying and plentiful Darters for long lens work. Good to see the Great Crested grebes still have their two chicks - fingers crossed for their survival!!

Dragonflies at Paxton Pits

A visit to Cobham Hide followed by a walk up the Haul Road at Paxton Pits produced a sizeable list of Dragonflies and Damsels etc. The star was definitely the Southern Migrant Hawker, a fairly newly listed species for the UK and my first sighting of one. Otherwise while Brown Hawker (egg laying), Emerald  Damsel, Common Blue Damsel, Ruddy Darter and Banded Demoiselle are still in prime condition, some other species are coming to the end of their brief lives like the Four-spot Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly

Glimpses of Life

 For me, my camera and the photographs that I take are a glimpse of so many creatures and behaviours that I would not be able to see and certainly not recall in any detail without its magnification and ability to capture a sequences. Here three scenarios from yesterday afternoon at Paxton. First a fledgling Wren that got left behind by the parents and other young, looking first at me and then elsewhere till it heard them calling and flew off. Then some solitary bees on the thistles with a male trying to mate (unsuccessfully). The Great Crested Grebe I photographed as a record hoping we will have a sequence through to successful rearing of young this time. Only when looking at photographs could I see that the air around was full of blue damselflies which it was eating. The brown hawker I only saw when reviewing my photographs as it was so well camouflaged

Paxton Dragonfly Open Day

The weather was excellent for the Open Day for the Dragonfly Society and resulted in most of the larger dragonflies being on the wing hunting and then resting wonderfully camouflaged in the undergrowth. Here Brown Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Emperor. The banded Demoiselles are still very active, plenty of Ruddy Darters (mating pair) and Common Darters (male and female) and a single Willow Emerald - the first of the year with Emerald now come to the end of their season. There were also Common Blue, Azure, Blue-tailed (mating image) and Red-eyed  Damselflies