Watching dragonflies at North Cliffe Wood

After lunch the clouds started to break open. With the hope of a sunny afternoon I headed to North Cliffe Wood to watch dragonflies. I was hoping to catch up with Large Red Damselflies, one of the earliest species to appear in the spring, which I hadn't seen yet this year.

 As I walked on the entrance path there was an Azure damselfly on the bracken. A four spotted chaser hunted on the heathland. I hadn't even got to the pond when I saw my first Large Red, and many Azures. The heathland pond was the heart of the action: I flushed a male Emperor from the shore, and he hunted for a while over the pond and then disappeared over the heath.

Four spotted chaser, Libellula quadrimaculata.

There were at least 20 Four spotted chasers, honouring their name. Clashes of wings when males grabbed females to mate and then were chased by other males. Some males defended a patch of shore and chased or investigated passing individuals. Some mating pairs briefly settled on the trees bordering the pond, but copulation is very brief in this species and I didn't manage any shots. Females were egg laying, brushing the surface of the water with their abdomen like a brush painting the water. Individuals were also hunting around the heathland and there they were easier to photograph as they rested on the rushes.

A settled Four spotted chaser and another one passing by.

 Large Red damselflies were quite abundant, about 10 of them, with two pairs in copula and one pair egg laying. They offered plenty of photo opportunities as they sat on the vegetation away from the pond.

Mating Large Red Damselflies

There were so many Azure damselflies, dozens of pairs were egg laying communally, I counted 13 egg laying pairs in one of these photographs. Egg laying appeared to happen on the weedy edges of the pond.

An egg laying aggregation of Azure damselflies.

A mating pair of Azure damselflies.

A view of the pond.

I decided to avoid the woods to minimise being eaten alive by mosquitoes, so I stayed in the heathland. I spotted several hornets, speckled woods and a male brimstone who settled briefly. Many Volucella bombylans on the wing. 

Robber fly to ID.

Brimstone.

Sleepy hare on the field.