Beverley and Barmston drain at the end of May

I went for an afternoon walk to the closest stretch of the Baverley and Barmston drain. The drain and adjacent land, which includes allotments, brownfield, playing fields and residencial areas, has a diverse assortment of birds, but now that the season has progressed it is the dragonflies I was after to add some records to the Hull dragons survey for 2020. The water is quite transparent, and there is plenty of marginal vegetation, including some flowering yellow flag irises, and in some stretches, trees. The water appears to be flowing upstream, but this might be an effect of the breeze.

  It is not long till I see some damselfly action. Some Azure damselflies in tandem or ovipositing, and males around the marginal vegetation, checking each other.

 There are some Blue-tailed Damselflies about, in smaller numbers.

A dragonfly passes by. Is it an emperor? it looks quite pale. I can't follow with the binoculars, so I watch it hunt along the banks, it climbs to check a bee, softly grabs it and then lets it go, then it catches a small insect and it lands in a bare branch in a poplar just at eye level opposite me. I can't believe when I zoom in and it is a hairy dragonfly! This is only the 2nd record for me in Hull, of this relatively recent colonist and still rare species in the area.

Hairy Dragonfly.

 The light is also ideal to watch the fish. There are a number of anglers fishing in the drain. The regular clearings they make in the banks make for ideal watching points for dragonflies too. There are a lot of fish from several species. I manage to photograph a few.

Roach.

Perch. 

Pike.