The county of Essex where I grew up has some choice odonata specialities, two of which prior to yesterday I had recorded just once each. These are Blue-eyed (or Southern Migrant) Hawker dragonfly and Scarce Emerald damselfly that occur in marshlands along the northern shore of the Thames estuary. When both were reported last weekend from a particular drainage dyke on West Canvey Marsh this was an opportunity to experience them properly. I had seen just one deformed individual of the first-named before (see here), while the latter was a matter of removing all doubt.

This is the fourth season since Blue-eyed Hawker arrived in England around here. When news got out from Wat Tyler Country Park on the southern outskirts of Basildon in 2014, the odo equivalent of a mass twitch ensued. Prior to then there had been just three national records. In mainland Europe the species is present permanently only around the Mediterranean, but there can be influxes further north in hot summers. It’s range in Essex has expanded somewhat since 2014, thankfully since a country park in the school summer holiday is not an ideal environment for serious observation.

I parked at South Benfleet railway station and walked out across Benfleet Creek, arriving on site just before midday. Opposite a local authority recycling facility a public footpath gives access to a stretch of sea wall (TQ779852) to the southern side of which lies the ditch in question. It didn’t take long to encounter a first Blue-eyed Hawker (pictured below): a medium sized, bright blue hawker with even more vivid blue eyes. Even by dragonfly standards these are seriously beautiful creatures, if a little prone to grassy poses.

Blue-eyed Hawker

The weekend post on the BDS sightings page cited more than 30 males along the length of this dyke. I continued to walk westwards and began to see Emerald damselflies as well, but were they of the right variety? I had forgotten to read up on the diagnostics before leaving the station car park, but now some of it came back to me and on the back of the camera these insects looked right for Scarce Emerald. Company arrived at this point in the form of two more odo hunters, one of whom said this was the place to see what is a highly localised damselfly 20 years ago. But both were much more interested in the star hawkers.

On reviewing my pictures (below) they all showed the correct characteristics for Scarce Emerald. Abdominal segment 1 and half of 2 are blue, with two darker spots on the blue part of segment 2. In Common Emerald both segments are plain blue. The second key diagnostic is the inner anal appendages that in Scarce Emerald are broader and more inwardly curved than for common. Brooks and Lewington also cites squarer shape of the pterostigma (black wing tags) and brighter blue eyes.

Scarce Emerald (male)

It had been much easier to identify this insect positively here than at nearby RSPB Bowers Marsh a year ago (see here). Then just one or two had been mixed in with Common Emerald and were in immature colouring. There were many more at the Canvey Island site this time as the BDS sighting had stated. So all doubt concerning what was the final species on my English damselfly list has been well and truly removed.

I next continued searching along the dyke for more Blue-eyed Hawker, counting 12 males on the walk out but there seemed to be more on the way back. One of the people I spoke to had counted 21, so between 20 and 30 at this site seems a reasonable estimate. I only hope there are females around too so this most attractive dragonfly can continue to establish itself, but I didn’t see any mating pairs on this visit. What I did see at intervals were hovering males at head height, patrolling up and down the ditch.

Blue-eyed Hawker (male)

BEH has a penchant for hovering, keeping still for relatively longer than other hawkers, which makes it easier to photograph. The upper picture, above was the icing on the cake of a pleasing experience, while I also like the lower capture of the dragonfly through it’s own wings. It is always a bonus to obtain flight shots. This had been a fairly brief visit of around three hours, in between peak periods on the M25 motorway, and I would like to come here again for longer in the future. With more reports getting out on-line I suspect this site will be very well attended this summer.

I always enjoy a visit to the heathlands of the Hampshire basin lying between the old A4 and A30 trunk roads, since in Oxon we do not have this habitat in which much special wildlife can be found. Last Thursday (9th) after concluding my butterfly business in Pamber Forest I moved on to BBOWT’s Decoy Heath reserve (SU613634) a little to the north, to see if any Downy Emerald were still about. This is a hidden gem of a place and one of the best odonata sites in Berkshire with 23 species having been known to breed.

There are three large ponds here, one of which is now seriously off-piste, and other areas of shallow surface water that often dry out. I didn’t find any Emerald dragonflies this time but Common Emerald damselfly (pictured below), a site speciality were much in evidence. These long-bodied, metallic green and blue damsels struck up some nice poses as they are wont to do, being an insect that rarely disappoints.

Common Emerald damselfly

At the most open of the ponds I was surprised to find a lone male Black Darter (pictured below), my first ever record at this site. The closest to home I had observed this acidic heath-dwelling specialist before was Thursley Common in Surrey, so this was a very welcome find. I view these dark and diminutive darters with their rock star shades of eyes as rather dashing and mysterious. This individual remained faithful to the same perch from which it ventured out and returned continuously. So it could only be photographed into the sun, though that did make for some interesting Chernobyl effects.

Bad light Black Darter (male)

Another first for me here was White-legged Damselfy (pictured below), a further site speciality. So many damsels are difficult to capture well, but this species has a nice knack of settling against interesting backgrounds. The pastel tones of blue, green and brown are both unmistakeable and to my mind very enticing. Other odo species observed on this visit were Blue Emperor dragonfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Ruddy Darter and Common Blue Damselfly.

White-legged Damselfly

Four days later on 10th I returned to try to photograph the Black Darter in a better light. Conditions were now cooler and upon my reaching the pond he was the first dragonfly I found, perched on a protruding stick (pictured top right, below) some distance from the location favoured first time around. I then spotted another male, but on checking out the first perch again realised this was the same individual moving between the two. Thereafter he frequented an area of rushes close in to the nearest shore (other pictures, below) and with the sun behind me that was mission accomplished quite nicely.

Premium Black Darter (male)

As on my earlier visit, this appeared to be the only one of its kind on site, though the species is a wanderer and often occurs at non-breeding locations. It was notable how the resident four-spotted enforcers and big boss Emperors seemed to leave the dark vagrant alone. Indeed my Black Darter was most often displaced by Common Blue Damselfly. In addition to those species already noted, Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer and Large Red Damselfly were also seen this time. And once again Common Emerald and White-legged Damselfly offered themselves to the camera well (pictured below).

White-legged Damselfly

Common Emerald

This is the site where odo watching all began for me. Several seasons ago I came here looking for Grayling butterflies and ran into an Oxon birder who had just seen a Brilliant Emerald. He suggested I get into dragonflies too and I replied they don’t keep still for long enough. Then he said: “That’s the challenge”. A couple of years later I took up his advice and the outcome has been endless hours of motivation and enjoyment.

Decoy Heath also has an important population of Adder that is sustained by BBOWT’s habitat management. I came across this contented couple (below) absorbing what warmth was on offer, before they realised there was company and slid back into their burrows. I presume the smaller snake in the foreground is the male, since females are often much larger. It is always good to get reptiles into this journal … I just adore ’em!

Mr and Mrs Adder

I next explored some interesting footpaths to the immediate south through what is an extension to the ancient woodland of Pamber Forest. I don’t usually bother with moths in the field, on the reasoning that trying to pay attention to everything is too distracting. But a Black Arches (below, left) roosting on a tree trunk just caught my fancy. It is a common woodland species in southern England.

Black Arches

Holly Blue

In the afternoon I went back to Pamber Forest but this time instead of heading south from the usual parking area (SU616621) I walked eastward into what is known as Lord’s Wood. Then I reached an area through which a brook flows that floods to form a large pond in especially wet times. This I understood to be a prime location for Common Goldenring dragonfly. While scanning for them from a low wooden footbridge a Holly Blue (above, right) began foraging around the stream bed beneath. Though a common or garden species this butterfly is somehow easy to overlook and tricky to capture, so it is always good to add another image to my collection.

I was at this point engaged pleasantly by a quite exceptional dog walker who actually took an interest in what I was doing rather than talking at me about her dog. As we chatted a Common Goldenring appeared below us. But though I caught two more glimpses this dragonfly didn’t patrol the stream bed for long and I could not relocate it. Numbers of Beautiful Demoiselle were also active in this place.

Silver-studded Blue (fem)

It remained to pay my annual respects to the Silver-studded Blue (pictured above) on neighbouring Silchester Common. The hotspot for these tiny blues is at the northern end of that heath near a classic car dealership (SU621625), but today I walked in from the village of Pamber Heath to explore a little more widely. This is a declining butterfly restricted to southern English heaths, but locally very numerous. At the peak of their June to August flight season the ground here can seem alive with SSB in places, but today things were strangely quiet.

Silver-studded Blue (fem)

Eventually I came across a very small number of females and glimpsed just one male. The preference in photographing all heathland butterflies is to capture them on Bell Heather, as in the right hand image. After some patchy attempts the sun went in just as I took up position over the miniscule female pictured. This insect then remained so still for so long I was able to completely re-educate myself on f-stops and other camera settings in the search for sharper images. The results are quite pleasing, but I was puzzled as to why so few SSB were on the wing here today at what has been a prolific site on some past visits.

These had been two more very pleasant outings with the camera just relaxing and seeing what could be found. If there is no particular agenda much more time can be focussed on gaining better quality images. And as always I returned home to the editing suite at peace with the world, with my spirit refreshed.

This excursion owed most to the need to hit the road and see something after weeks of limited national birding options. I have seen any number of Bee-eaters in southern Europe (pictured below), where to my mind this is one of the most charming and evocative of summer visitors. So with up to seven birds present 110 miles from home in the East Midlands all this week, putting the beautiful EBE onto my British list offered sufficient motivation for a much needed day out.

Bee-eater in Cyprus …

Spain …

… and Portugal

It seems plain that small numbers of these birds have been roaming England this summer, being a species that is tipped to expand its range northward due to climate change. Indeed some passed through Oxfordshire in late May but were seen for around eight seconds by just one sharp-eyed patch worker. Since last weekend a cluster has been frequenting an active gravel extraction site East Leake Quarry (SK564248), a little to the north of Loughborough and fairly close by the M1 motorway.

East Leake quarry on a dull and damp day. The Bee-eaters favoured the large Ash tree in the centre

I arrived there late morning in drizzly conditions and was surprised by the number of birders cars parked in a roadside lay-by and an RSPB-stewarded field opposite. ‘Well if there’s this many people here the birds must be showing,’ I thought. But on reaching the viewing area close to the quarry (pictured above), I was told they had flown off around 40 minutes earlier. Recollections of recently dipped Marsh Warbler and Elegant Tern stirred inside me but there was nothing to do but wait.

After about 20 minutes a first European Bee-eater was called and pretty quickly five birds alighted into the trees pictured below, left. The right hand photo is intended only to convey how this tick for blighty was first seen by myself. The unfolding action was viewable just from a limited area, and this prompted some chuntering by people standing further back who seemed to expect an unrestricted view. I was reminded of last autumn’s Dusky Thrush twitch in the Peak District, so maybe such grumpiness is a matter of dealing with dour Derby folk.

First sighting

In the meantime Adam had arrived on site, and we stood around chatting about Oxon birding matters, insects and plants to occasional disapproving glances, until the Bee-eaters chose to show themselves more openly. Eventually, at around 12:45pm three of the birds settled in dead branches at the crown of the Ash tree featured in many of the published pictures on RBA (see here). Now everyone present could see them well, as had been the likelihood all along, and they proceeded to put on a bit of a show.

I just love the way multi-coloured Bee-eaters move and sound and nothing else resembles them. Time and again the three birds here would glide out from their perches like over-sized hirundines to catch, well presumably bees. This was the first time I have actually seen them perched with prey in their open bills, that they would then knock against the wood of the tree to stun or kill before swallowing. In the light I was not going to get good pictures and so I used my digiscoping kit with my camera set to its highest ISO rating.

Today’s European Bee-eaters

at East Leake quarry

The edited results (above) resemble water colours and I rather like them despite their obvious lack of technical merit. As always they show how these birds were seen and prove that I am not making all this up. Adam and I left at 2pm though the Bee-eaters continued to entertain their audience until mid-afternoon and were reported again in the evening. It had been a little incongruous to watch birds so suggestive of balmy Mediterranean landscapes going about their business on a dull and dour English summer’s afternoon. But this is likely to become an increasingly frequent sight here and adding EBE to my own British list was a thoroughly worthwhile experience.

Addendum: On 20th July the RSPB announced that one of three active nests being guarded had hatched chicks. This represents only the third British breeding record in the last 10 years. See here for details. By 2nd August all three nests had hatched young but shortly afterwards it was announced they had failed and the birds left the site.

The last three days have been the hottest of the year with southern England basking in 30 degree plus temperatures. So losing myself at a shady pond somewhere seemed a rather more sensible option than frying in my garden at home or indeed Pagham Harbour. Trying to secure more pictures of Downy Emerald dragonfly being the next item on this year’s insect agenda, I therefore headed off to the commercial forestry plantation Warren Heath in north Hants (SU774596), the best location I know.

Emerald dragonflies favour sheltered, acidic woodland pools such as this (pictured below) and rarely disperse far from the breeding site. Downies typically emerge over two weeks following the first prolonged warm spell in May, while the metallic green Brilliant Emeralds follow on three to four weeks later. The immature insects fly away at once into the surrounding woods then return to the pond as adults up to 10 days later.

A relatively cool venue on a very hot day

As I walked mid-morning down to two ponds at the southern end of this site, 2017’s debutant Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly appeared to one side of the track. The area just south of my destination had been felled recently, giving the immediate vicinity an entirely different character as it would. Then as the water surface came into view a first Emerald passed over my head and up into the trees above. And upon my reaching the eastern pond edge several more were immediately apparent.

I had not expected to find both Emerald species here on this day, but given the recent fine weather their flight periods are indeed overlapping, as they will into mid-July. It appears Downy and Brilliant Emerald are enjoying a good season in sunny 2017.  I found a spot where some photogenic natural perches were protruding from the water and sat down to stake them out. As any experienced odo observer knows securing images of perched Emerald dragonflies can involve a very long wait since they seldom do that at the water’s edge. When they do settle occasionally it is usually in nearby vegetation or up in the canopy. And so I have just three previous Downy pictures in my collection and none of Brilliant.

For the next couple of hours I watched the various individuals present carrying on with what their kind always does, patrolling the same zone over and over again fast and close to the water, while chasing each other about. There were no Four-spotted Chaser around initially and so they only had each other to compete with. The patrol flight is punctuated by frequent bouts of hovering though never for long. Hence I did manage to get some blurry flight studies, of which these (below) are the better ones.

Brilliant Emerald

Downy Emerald

According to Brooks and Lewington, males fly earlier in the day than other species and seldom occupy a territory for long before departing back into the woodland. The vacant zone is then quickly taken over by other males, of which several might time-share a relatively small area of the pond. All of this was borne out by my experience this time. It was very difficult to calculate just how many Emeralds might have been active here, though I certainly saw more than on any previous occasion today.

The lesson of all this is one just has to be lucky in finding perched subjects away from the water, and there is typically a very large area of vegetation in which to come across them. By early afternoon I tired of my unlikely goal and went for a wander. Crossing over to the far side of the pond that was in sunlight, Four-spotted Chaser were in command of territorial perches all along the shore. Occasional Blue Emperor and Keeled Skimmer were also seen.

Beautiful Demoiselle (male)

Beautiful Demoiselle (female)

Next I followed the stream that feeds these ponds. Along it numbers of Beautiful Demoiselle (pictured above) were flopping about and glistening in the sunlight, mostly males. But I digress. The season’s first White Admiral butterfly was on the wing here, along with more Silver-washed Fritillary. Foxgloves were everywhere and this rather dapper long-horn beetle (below, right) made for something a little different. Having checked my field guide I believe it is one of several similar species in the genus Strangalia maculata, for what that’s worth.

Woodland Foxgloves

Yellow and black long-horn beetle

Eventually I returned to the original waterside spot with its protruding perches. But this side of the pond was now in shade, while the far side was in glary sunlight so the likelihood of securing meaningful pictures was receding fast. There were huge numbers of Large Red and Azure Damselfy everywhere at this site today, along with fewer Red-eyed and Blue-tailed. All of them were largely preoccupied with propagating their kind, that from time to time made practising with camera settings against the desired props more interesting.

If two’s company …

… and three’s a crowd

What is four?

The great enjoyment of a visit like this is just relaxing with the camera, recording whatever is seen without any particular agenda. Hoping to photograph perched Emeralds gave things a purpose, but once on site it was possible to spend hours just pottering around for no particular reason at all. Two days later I returned for more of the same.

This time I paid more attention to the woodlands away from the pond edge. A few times I caught sight of Emeralds heading off into the trees or flying above me, but on no occasion could I tell where they went. And so once more I opted to enjoy what was going on all around, rather than concentrating on what would be the frustration of attempting mission almost impossible. Along the feeder stream several Keeled Skimmer were active. The pre-mature males (pictured below) were still showing varying amounts of yellow in their colouration, and as always struck up some very pleasing poses.

Maturing male Keeled Skimmers

Also present here were two Common Goldenring that would glide up and down their patch at intervals looking equally mysterious and spectacular. For me this is the daddy of English dragonflies and always magnificent to behold. They mostly kept in shade but this male (below) took a few passing looks at one sunny stream-bed perch and so I staked it out. Before long the insect settled and that was job done. I just love Goldenrings!

Common Goldenring (male)

A second observer then arrived who said he had been monitoring Warren Heath for the last 15 years. He confirmed the valley in which we were standing was indeed a long-established Goldenring location, though numbers of this and other dragonflies here are no longer what they once were. He also said that in all that time he had secured just one picture of a perched Brilliant Emerald. So that set down a marker!

I next explored a little further, walking away into a grassy area and then upstream until the habitat became a little too off-piste to attempt without more protective clothing. The main interest here was teneral (newly emerged) male Keeled Skimmer that provided some similarly satisfying images (below) to the adults.

Teneral Keeled Skimmers (all pictures)

Lastly I returned to the pond where on its sunnier side Black-tailed Skimmer made up the midsummer mix for the site. I captured this male (below) in an appropriately blue light, then just stood and took in for a while the continuous drama of that dragonfly, Four-spotted Chasers, Blue Emperors and Emeralds all harassing one another and competing for local supremacy in the early afternoon glare.

Black-tailed Skimmer (male)

Later in the day I moved on to the long pond at Bramshill Plantation (SU746632) to the north of Warren Heath. There the water level was higher than on my visit a year ago (see here) and hence there were less extensive marginal areas in which to observe dragonflies. So I completed a circuit of the water body mainly in tree cover on the off-chance of coming across a perched Downy Emerald, once again without success. So the objective that had brought me to this part of north Hampshire will have to wait a little or perhaps much longer to achieve.

This is an account of my quest to capture uncluttered images of a special butterfly. In Oxford we are not only blessed with the potential for finding more than 40 species within an hour’s drive of the city, but also with having one of Britain’s scarcest and most sought butterfly gems on our doorstep. I am referring to Black Hairstreak that occurs only in old woodland sites stretching from the outskirts of Oxford, north-eastward through Bucks’ Bernwood Forest complex into Northants and Cambridgeshire.

Mission accomplished – premium Black Hairstreak

This is an elusive butterfly with a short flight period, usually in the first half of June but possibly in late May after an especially warm spring. They are not easy to locate since most colonies, typically of a few dozen individuals occupy restricted areas of the woods where they occur, seldom moving far. On some days BH do not fly at all, preferring to rest out of sight in tree tops where they feed on aphid honeydew. But depending upon the availability of that sweet, sticky secretion they will also come lower to nectar on wild flowers such as Bramble, Dog Rose and Privet that grow amongst the Blackthorn food plant. Then these butterflies can compensate for their more usual inaccessibility by being very approachable.

In their regular Bernwood Forest strongholds, Black Hairstreak have been monitored for many years by expert naturalists active within Butterfly Conservation’s Upper Thames Branch. But an almost mythical status arising out of great scarcity also attracts collectors who can remove eggs and larvae, as well as inappropriate attention from casual observers. By the latter I mean the peculiar field underclass that is interested only in taking pictures of Black and Brown Hairstreak, Purple Emperor and Large Blue. The conversation of such “butterfly tourists”, as I term them exhibits a lack of knowledge that matches their capacity for trashing habitat. And the result is pressure upon the most precious resource that the aforementioned butterflies represent.

One of Wednesday’s Black Hairstreak

Having myself become increasingly sensitive to that situation I dropped Black Hairstreak from my summer agenda in 2016. But this year I really rather fancied experiencing them again. Sightings began from 1st June just before last month’s mainly fair weather changed for the worse. Knowing Ewan’s yearly interest in these insects I tipped him off and he replied in the affirmative. My choice of location was BBOWT’s Finemere Wood reserve in Bucks. This is a well-known and monitored BH site over many years, so writing about it here can do no harm.

We met there at 10am on 7th June. Tuesday had been a cold and changeable day and this overcast morning had a definite hangover. No matter. We set off for what is known as one of the woodland reserve’s BH hotspots, and in still subdued conditions came across a first Black Hairstreak nectaring on Bramble flowers. BC UTB’s species champion, Stuart Hodges arrived shortly afterwards to fill us in on all things local BH. I have participated in his guided walks through this wood previously and nobody knows more about the butterfly than he.

We remained at this spot for some time, estimating that perhaps three BH were present. Usually in bursts of sunshine these butterflies would appear quickly around the Brambles before returning to the Hazel trees or tall stands of Blackthorn above. They were always restless, not settling for long and often leaning with closed wings sideways to the sun as BH do.

Black Hairstreak

Black Hairstreak

When I reviewed the above images at home my initial reaction was they were poor. So I turned to the editing suite to try to make them creative. But Hairstreaks are usually seen like this, constantly moving subjects flying jerkily against contrasting bright light and dark patchy backgrounds. They just don’t normally do uncluttered. On scanning back through previous seasons’ results those were all pretty much the same.

Eventually we moved on to check out another area of the wood that Stuart had cited as a hotspot. On the main ride we met a visitor from Dorset who had not seen Black Hairstreak before, and so took her back to the spot where we had been. It is always a pleasure to assist genuine and knowledgeable enthusiasts, as opposed to butterfly tourists in this way. Our guest was pleased to add a missing species to her British list and so be rewarded for a three hour drive. By this time conditions were mainly sunny and perhaps up to five BH were active.

In the early afternoon we visited another site where Black Hairstreak are being reported, finding a similar number again of always hyperactive butterflies. Here there was a lot of wild Privet growing amongst the Blackthorn stands, though the former was mostly still in bud. BH can be very tolerant of human presence when feeding on Privet, especially in cooler conditions and so I resolved to come back here to try for less cluttered pictures once that shrub is in more extensive bloom.

Wild Privet

Umbellifer

In the event things happened two days later. On Friday (9th) I spent three more hours at the second location. In changeable sunny and cloudy conditions I found about 10 Black Hairstreak in different parts of this wood but didn’t manage any pictures because none of them were settling. But I did make a thorough reconnoitre of the entire site to search out naturally occurring props on which butterflies might pose on a better weather day. There is something missing in each of the above two pictures. I was prepared for filling in the blanks to take some time but my goal was actually realised much more quickly.

Saturday morning (10th) was gloriously sunny with only very light cloud in the skies, and so I headed back here again. During the visits described in this post Black Hairstreak have mainly been encountered in small groups of three or four individuals. Today I was pleased to locate one such cluster very close to flowering Privet in a sunny place. So I staked out this spot waiting for butterflies to settle on the pungent smelling flowers and did not have very long to wait.

Black Hairstreak

From time to time what was possibly the same BH returned to the Privet, but never settling for long and inevitably favouring darker recesses when it did. But occasionally over the next two hours it would settle on protruding flowers against lighter backgrounds. Then my camera would go to work mostly with disappointing results. The images (above) were all captured using my Nikkor 300mm telephoto lens that I have always found to be suited to insect image capture.

Ultimately three butterflies became active at once and the longer I remained the more they seemed to become accepting of my presence, as insects do. Picture taking aside it was a superb experience to be so close to these rare and beautiful little jewels, and best of all was that I had them completely to myself. Now I decided to have a try with my macro lens. The BH allowed me to take hold of the twigs on which they were nectaring and manoeuvre them into a favourable light, whilst using the camera on auto focus with my other hand.

Close Black Hairstreak encounter

“Shine on … illuminated” *

Almost all my macro work was over exposed and out of focus with one exception (above, left). Some people may object to this but I must stress that BH when nectaring are practically impervious to disturbance, as is well known. Also since my selected Privet was overhanging a public bridleway there was no need to wade into or flatten habitat, which in any case is something I take care to avoid doing. The other close-ups, taken into the sun were achieved with heavy editing (* lyric © I Astbury / B Duffy).

Black Hairstreak appear to be having a good year in 2017 as is usual following a warm May. The images in this post took around 12 hours in the field to secure over three days. I am very pleased with my insect observations so far in the early summer. After success in recording female Hairy Hawker (see here) and emerging Clubtail (see here) dragonflies, the Black Hairstreak butterfly has provided another long-sought result. Just over a week from the first emergences these most transient of butterflies are already showing signs of wear and tear. They will no longer be with us by the end of June.

After reading online this morning that some attractive teneral forms of female Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly could be seen in the New Forest I decided to go and have a look. It is getting difficult now to find new and different odonata to take pictures of but there are still immatures (teneral) and females of some species that I have yet to record.

This being a snap decision the late departure would mean braving traffic congestion between the A34 / M3 junction and the M27. That obstacle took 40 minutes to negotiate but afterwards it was a clear run to a site I have visited in each of the last two seasons (see here and here). The B3078 road from the end of the motorway to Latchmore Brook (SU182124) had an extra “aawww factor” on this occasion since many of the New Forest ponies had foals.

I arrived on site just before 1pm and donning my wellies set off for the SBTD stronghold in a bog just to the north of the brook. The first odo to show themselves predictably were Banded Demoiselle, closely followed by Large Red Damselfly. At one small pool a Broad-bodied Chaser (below right) was holding territory, while two males were competing for the next, larger area of water that I reached.

Keeled Skimmer

Broad-bodied Chaser

A short distance beyond that spot lay the bog, glistening in the early afternoon sunshine and full of attractive wild plants. This habitat is created by water run-off from the higher ground of Hampton Ridge on its northern side. Now two more blue dragonflies were encountered: first an early Keeled Skimmer (above, left) of which there will be many at this site come mid-summer, then a magnificent Blue Emperor (below right) suspended lazily from a resting place in Gorse.

Large Red Damselfly

Blue Emperor

While I was watching the latter a first male  Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly appeared. These always have a ghost-like quality as they drift weakly over the bog surface, only to vanish in an instant when the light changes. They are valley mire specialists favouring disturbed habitat that has been grazed and trampled by livestock.

As the pictures below (left and upper right) show, males are predominantly dark brown, with segment 9 of the abdomen blue with two small black dots, and part of segment 8 also blue. Markings on the thorax develop from a straw colouration on emergence, through green and turquoise to deep blue when mature; so I was observing fairly young specimens today. The larger Blue-tailed Damselfy (bottom right) has a rather more sharply defined blue tail that is contained within segment 8. I found several male SBTD at this particular spot but none of the teneral females I had come here hoping to see.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly

By mid-afternoon conditions, frustratingly became more overcast. Then it seemed the longer I stayed here the less I found. Each time I began to walk away the sun would emerge, usually weakly again but not for long before being enveloped by cloud once more. A cool breeze also grew and everything stopped flying. Eventually I did put up an unfamiliar insect that looked like a teneral female SBTD, but it flew off ahead before disappearing into cover. In four hours on site I had gained some reasonable pictures but not captured anything new before the grey stuff rolled in … and that is so often the way with insect watching!

But should any reader be suffering from insect fatigue … Aawww!

Common Clubtail has once more lived up to its reputation for being difficult to locate in this new dragonfly season. The reason is they are tree top dwellers, and so if not observed upon emergence from slow flowing rivers are unlikely to be encountered again. My only previous English record was four years ago along the Thames path at Pangbourne on the Oxon / Berks border (SU662774). Multiple visits to that site in the seasons since produced just one fly past and I again drew blank on three occasions in the last week.

All that changed today when I found myself attempting to assist in the birth of one Clubtail before witnessing a second go gloriously on its way. Yesterday afternoon (24th), with a friend Wayne Smith I had checked out Goring railway bridge across the Thames (SU606797) further upstream from Pangbourne. This is the classic Oxon site for Clubtail emergences that I had also visited unsuccessfully twice in 2015. Now in company with a lady off the train from London we at least found four exuviae (larval cases), two on the concrete wall of the bridge abutment and two more in long grass at the top. These were the first odo exuviae (pictured below) I have ever seen and I admit it was my companions who uncovered them.

Common Clubtail exuvia

Banded Demoiselle damselflies are everywhere along the Thames at this time of year. I particularly like the bottle green and orange-toned females, though both genders are always photogenic. Just upstream from Goring railway bridge is a tiny nature reserve Little Meadow that is administered by a local charity. Until walking around this site I had tried not to become too distracted by the Demoiselles. But here they were posing so perfectly against uncluttered backgrounds that I just couldn’t resist some premium shots (below).

Banded Demoiselle (fem)

Banded Demoiselle (male)

Finding the Clubtail exuviae was to tread on a slippery slope. I now just had to witness adults emerging in this place and so resolved to go back earlier today (25th) with my chair and stay until something was seen. I arrived on site around 11:30am, the ensuing three hours being reputed as the optimum time for emergences here. After an hour of regular checks, upon the concrete abutment was a strange shape that had not been there before; and something was starting to climb out of it (pictured below).

Emerging Common Clubtail

I was about to watch and photograph an adult Common Clubtail dragonfly entering the daylight world after it’s long underwater sojourn as a nymph. But it soon became apparent this might take some time. After 30 minutes I was joined by another observer, James who is a post-graduate ornithologist at Oxford University, and we watched on together. I was concerned by how low on the wall our Clubtail had elected to emerge, since it could easily be dislodged by the wash from passing boats.

Eventually the inevitable happened. We couldn’t tell whether the stricken dragonfly was trying to re-attach itself against the wall or just being splashed around, and so the decision was taken to rescue it. Using a long stem of Cow Parsley I extracted the sorry, sodden insect from the water and we then placed it on a wooden post where it might continue to emerge. But things were clearly very wrong.

The dragonfly looked grotesquely twisted and had plainly been having difficulty in emerging properly even before falling back into the water. So I held down the tip of the exuvia at which the Clubtail made greater efforts to release itself but still could not break free. If any reader objects to any of this all I can say is that in my inexperience I did what I could think of to give a clearly distressed creature a greater chance of life. But things were to no avail and eventually this unfortunate insect expired. I will submit it’s remains to the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) for DNA analysis, via the Oxon county recorder.

Newly emerged Common Clubtail

The failed emergence had lasted two hours and the time was now approaching 2:30pm. My companion wandered away and soon called me across to where a second Common Clubtail (pictured above) was perched on the abutment wall. This one was much bigger and more robust than the deformed runt we had so concerned ourselves with. There it was, perfectly formed but rather pale looking alongside its larval case. As we watched the second insect seemed to colour up a little then suddenly flexed it’s wings a few times before flying off majestically over our heads. So there was a positive ending after all to what had been a rather strange Clubtail experience.

All’s well this time … how it should happen

A short walk downstream from Goring railway bridge lies BBOWT’s Hartslock Reserve (see here) that is famed for it’s rare Lady and Monkey Orchids and a possibly unique hybrid of the two. 2017’s only Lady at the site had now finished but the Monkeys were in full bloom though not of their best this year due to the mainly dry spring weather. Most of the Orchids in bloom today were of the Lady x Monkey Hybrid that has established itself at this site since 2006. I am not a botanist and so hope I have got this (below) right. The unimproved chalk downland hillside of Hartslock also enjoys stunning views over the Goring Gap and River Thames.

Monkey Orchid

Lady x Monkey Orchid

Lady x Monkey Orchid

Lady x Monkey Orchid

Common Clubtail from the river below are said to fly over the BBOWT reserve though I didn’t see any during a fairly brief visit. I assumed they would be active high up in the wooded areas. With this so difficult dragonfly and female Hairy Hawker both observed in May two of my top odo priorities for 2017 have been converted successfully. That must be due to this past week’s complete sunny days, instead of the more usual scenario of leaving home in sunshine only for cloud to roll in on site. The countryside around Goring-on-Thames, a designated AONB is also very pleasant just to walk around and these two days have been uplifting in no small measure.

Note: The Oxon BDS recorder is maintaining a complete log of 2017 Common Clubtail sightings in the county. To consult this click here.

One of my top dragonfly priorities in the last two seasons has been to acquire better pictures of Hairy Hawker, and also to observe females of that species for the first time. But two years ago (2015) neither aim was realised and last year there were not suitable spring weather conditions to keep them out in the open.

Since my return from abroad on 13th May there has been a lot of wet weather that has been great for my wildlife garden at home, and for writing up my experiences in northern Greece but not for getting out and seeing insects. The first sunny weather window was on the morning of 18th and so I headed for RSPB Otmoor, probably the best place locally to engage with Hairy Hawker. Fortunately the prime HH spots on this former enthusiasts’ reserve, now populist playground are away from the visitor trail.

I parked in the village of Noke and walked into the reserve’s western end, to be greeted immediately by an enquiry of: “Have you seen much out that way?” Gritting my teeth I strode on, crossing paths with a first male HH as the morning warmed. After stopping to chat with other Oxon birding colleagues I walked on towards the “cross roads” at the reserve’s heart. A medium-sized dragonfly went up from one edge of the track and flew around a little before settling in a bush on the other side. This was indeed my first ever female Hairy Hawker (pictured below) and what a cracker she is!

To me there is nothing more fascinating, complex and subtle in the natural world than dragonflies, and this was one of the most attractive I have ever seen. Behold the rust, ochre and chocolate brown patterning; the deep yellow veining in the wings and those languid, pale blue eyes. This insect had possibly just emerged because she remained faithful to the same sunny spot for a long time and was still there when I set off back to Noke. As I went a mating pair flew by then disappeared into cover to continue with what must be done.

Unfortunately it is seldom possible to deflect accosters along Otmoor’s bridleway by saying I am looking for dragonflies, without those people talking about Hobbies (ie the summer Falcon). It irritates me when seasoned birders and other persons carrying optics alike dismiss the beautiful and charismatic creatures that dragonflies are as “Hobby food”. I’m sorry chaps and chapesses but you’re missing out. In my view such beauty should not be regarded so trivially.

Hairy Hawkers © and courtesy of Peter Roby (left) and Paul Greenaway (left)

I have borrowed the above images from two other Oxon birders. This dragonfly is so called because of a noticeably downy thorax. It is shorter than other hawkers with a stout abdomen, creating the impression of being a more compact insect. Males typically make low and inquisitive patrols in and out of the gaps in vegetation. HH has an earlier flight season than the British Aeshna hawkers, Southern, Migrant and Moorland; all of which peak in late summer

The last two days (21st and 22nd) have been gloriously sunny, perfect dragonfly weather. Yesterday I had work commitments but much of today was spent odo hunting, mostly for Common Clubtail without success. In the late afternoon I returned to Otmoor to attempt to try for male Hairy Hawker pictures. A very pleasant 90 minutes ensued, this time at the eastern end of the reserve away from the over-trafficked visitor trail.

At least seven individuals were encountered, including another female but these were not inclined to settle in the bright sunlight. And so they patrolled up and down hawking for midges, now here now there; while a similar number of Four-spotted Chaser were warming up for their own new season of hustling and mugging. As I progressed a courting pair of Turtle Dove were chasing around overhead, the male’s tree top purring filling the air. A Cuckoo called constantly and out in the field on one side of Otmoor’s bridleway a lingering Peregrine surveyed the scene stoically from a post-top perch. This was the acme of springtime.

Eventually I was rewarded when on catching sight of another male Hairy Hawker it settled fairly high up to one side of the track. This (above) is actually not a bad result considering the distance at which it was captured. But I yearned for uncluttered images, though in truth that is not how Hairy Hawker are usually seen. That aim was eventually realised back here on 15th June with possibly my best ever capture of a male (below).

As of two seasons ago I had observed every regularly occurring English dragonfly. So my current interest lies with improving on past pictures where necessary, gaining more experience of certain species and recording females of others. Hairy Hawker has provided a satisfying start to the new season. Thank heaven for dragonflies that as spring turns to summer have a special capacity to impact upon the quality of life.

During the Naturetrek tour featured in the last three posts our group recorded 34 different butterfly species. I was assured by our leader this was not a bad tally for May, with butterfly numbers in Macedonia peaking in June. The prime focus of the trip was birds so we did not go to any location looking specifically for insects. Hence this account is not intended to portray a representative butterfly summary for the region, rather it describes what we came across whilst birding. For me the butterflies described herein include 11 lifers (denoted by *), three of which are whites that I would prefer to term regional species.

The most frequently seen white was Eastern Bath White * (below left) that to me looked a little larger and less blotchy on the lower underwings than its western equivalent. Size is of course not a reliable indicator, while Collins uses the word intense instead of blotchy. In truth the two species are more easily separated on the laboratory bench than in the field, but I went on the word of our tour leader who was armed with a copy of the out-of-print Tristan Lafranchis European butterfly guide. I was assured the latter is far more useful in the field than Collins, though I found its presentation difficult to get my head around. A second regional species, Southern Small White * that has more extensive black wing-tips than our own, was also seen a few times but not photographed.

Eastern Bath White

Clouded Yellow

Black-veined White * is a butterfly I especially wanted to experience on this trip, being a common and widespread European mainland species that somehow I had not come across in les Cevennes (see here) a year ago. We found this large, graceful white several times in both woodland and more open habitats at various altitudes. It has a languid and rather floppy flight pattern reminiscent of Swallowtails, moving constantly without settling too often. The south-western edge of Lake Kerkini and lower Mavrovouni hills was the best area for BVW. There at one roadside site in cool conditions on 12th, several individuals posed for the camera (below).

Black-veined White

Black-veined White

Black-veined White

The trip’s first new Blue was Chapman’s Blue *, seen on 8th at a site in the Belles Mountains  This is a species I have puzzled over previously in southern France and Cyprus but had not ID’d conclusively until now, so it was a particularly satisfying find. Males (pictured below) have a noticeably violet-tinged colouration, a little deeper in tone than Common Blue, and the marginal underwing patterning is especially bright compared to similar Blues.

Chapman’s Blue

Chapman’s Blue

The second Blue lifer was the rare and much sought Iolas Blue * (pictured below, left), two individuals being found at Belles Mountains sites on 8th and 12th. One of the largest Blues, this upland species has a patchy and highly localised distribution across south-eastern Europe. They do not form tight colonies around food plant concentrations like many blues, but can range over several kilometres seldom stopping for long. So locating them is never easy and seeing two or three in a day would be an achievement. Iolas’ status is endangered by collectors stripping the food plant, Bladder Senna of seed pods (below, right) in which the larvae grow to remove eggs.

Iolas Blue

Bladder Senna seed pods © rights of owner reserved

Probably the most frequently seen butterfly of the trip was Lesser Spotted Fritillary * that was encountered in most of the places we visited. This dapper and diminutive south-east European species certainly looked smaller and less bright than the Spotted Fritillary I have observed previously in Portugal and southern France.

Lesser Spotted Fritillary

Lesser Spotted Fritillary (mating pair)

One of the stand-out sightings of the trip was a beautiful fresh Queen of Spain Fritillary * that was observed on 7th at a site in the Strimonas valley. Worn individuals were also seen on a few other occasions in different places. This is a very widespread mainland European species with striking underwing patterning (pictured below, right). The underside hind wings are decorated with large pearly spots and crossed by a row of black eyespots with pearly pupils. Some pearly spots also appear at the apex of the forewings.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Queen of Spain

On the slopes of Mount Vrondous on 10th the butterflies included some familiar early season specialities from home. Dingy and Grizzled Skipper were both flying here and also a colony of Duke of Burgundy (pictured below). I had not observed any of these three early season specialities in England this year, where the unseasonably mild start to April brought them out early while I was in Estonia, then the rest of that months cold northerly winds served to keep them out of sight.

Montane Duke of Burgundy

Two more new (for me) regional species were also encountered here. Northern Wall Brown * occurs across Fennoscandia hence presumably its name, and locally in the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians and Balkan peninsula. A true montane species, it is darker toned on the upper side than regular Wall Brown with very attractive under-wing patterning (pictured below, left).

Northern Wall Brown

Eastern Wood White

This was an especially satisfying butterfly to have discovered here, as was Eastern Wood White * (pictured above, right). This third of my new “regional whites” ranges locally from south-eastern France through north-western Italy to the western and southern Balkans. A key diagnostic is the grey and brown antennae club, that in regular Wood White is black and grey. In the spring brood Eastern also has bolder underwing patterning and the upper-side is slightly yellowish. If that all sounds picky be thankful I have yet to distinguish the other two full Wood White species, Fenton’s and Real’s that can only be separated reliably on genitalia characters.

On the afternoon of 11th we visited a lake near a village Vafiocheri, that like Kerkini on a much smaller scale is an enclosed, man made water body used to irrigate surrounding land. A decision was made to take the minibus up onto the lake’s embankment and make a full circuit. But since most of the birds being seen were rather distant, I elected to stay behind and pay proper attention to photographing the many Fritillaries that were flying here.

Knapweed Fritillary

I thought, mistakenly that up to four species were present but upon reviewing the pictures they were all found to be of Lesser Spotted and Knapweed Fritillary (pictured above). The latter common and widespread species varies greatly in appearance from region to region, within countries and even at particular sites. As on previous occasions I had fallen into the trap of assuming something new is being seen that is actually just the local form of Knapweed. Today’s butterflies did vary a lot in size and tone, and the same was true of the Lesser Spotted Fritillary.  A very tatty Large Wall Brown* (pictured below) was also observed here.

Worn Large Wall Brown

The trip’s other two lifers were an ageing Eastern Festoon * (pictured below, left) seen near Vironia, and a Lattice Brown (below, right) in the Mount Mavrovouni foothills, both on 9th. The latter occurs throughout Greece at the western edge of its mainly Middle Eastern breeding range, and spends much time concealed in the interior shade of bushes or small trees.

Faded Eastern Festoon

Lattice Brown

The full species list for the trip was Eastern Festoon*, Scarce Swallowtail, Black-veined White*, Southern Small White*, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Clouded Yellow, Eastern Wood White*, Green Hairstreak, Sooty Copper, Holly Blue, Green-underside Blue, Iolas Blue*, Silver-studded Blue, Brown Argus, Chapman’s Blue*, Common Blue, Duke of Burgundy, Southern White Admiral, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Knapweed Fritillary, Lesser-spotted Fritillary*, Queen of Spain Fritillary*, Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Wall Brown, Northern Wall Brown*, Large Wall Brown*, Lattice Brown*, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper.

Mount Mavrovouni (1179m) rises to the west of Lithotopus, and between the peak and Lake Kerkini stretch foothills that offer good hiking country. During this series’ Naturetrek tour our group twice followed tracks uphill in search of certain birds. On both occasions weather conditions were overcast, which was a pity because these trails were very wild flower rich and struck me as excellent butterfly habitat. I was at once reminded here of the Algarve hills in which I had lost myself during a memorable May in 2014 (see here then scroll down).

A view south-west from Kerkini village

On the morning of Tuesday 9th, while making a circuit of Kerkini by road we stopped to walk the first track to look for Olive Tree Warbler. This large, heavy-billed warbler winters in eastern and southern Africa and has a fairly localised breeding distribution from the Balkans through Greece and Turkey eastward to Syria. 95% of it’s world breeding population is concentrated into that relatively small range. The species frequents open woodlands, olive groves and orchards from where it typically sings in cover and is difficult to locate.

Olive Tree Warbler © rights of owner reserved

I had seen this bird once before in Cyprus back in November 2011 when I first started travelling. It was one of several good sightings not accepted from an unknown visitor by the Cyprus bird recorder: the others being Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Great Black-headed Gull, Red-throated Pipit and Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush. The one accepted record from that trip was Pied Kingfisher that was the only bird I wasn’t sure about myself, having been observed into the sun. But I digress, the point being I now wished to prove I had been right about OTW.

Black-headed Bunting

A Black-headed Bunting was singing loudly from a tree top as we set out, then this bright local dignitary seemed to follow us up the track. A fairly large Bunting, it breeds across much of south-eastern Europe, wintering in India and south-east Asia. It is found in open grassland and scrub habitats including agricultural land, and often perches prominently on tree tops or overhead wires. Three different Shrikes – Red-backed, Woodchat and Masked  – were also encountered during the two visits described here.

Eventually Olive Tree Warbler song was heard from within an olive grove to one side of the track. We played a phone app recording to try to entice this bird nearer but it didn’t show any interest. Then what should appear out of the grove but another Masked Shrike, one of more than a dozen we encountered through the tour. This bird has a very similar song to OTW and like other Shrikes a talent for mimicry.

Masked Shrike

So was it this Shrike we had been listening to? No, as we watched that vocal bandito a large, pale warbler came into the same tree to check things out then moved on again. The second bird was our OTW that had ignored a recording of the real thing in favour of a mimic. Unfortunately the experience did nothing to remove all doubt about my Cyprus sighting, as I had identified that past bird by its hard clicking “tack” contact call that was not heard this time.

I have a thing about wild Arum lilies, three varieties of which have colonised very successfully my wildlife garden at home. Dragon Arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) is one of the most dramatic plants in the aroid family, being prized by collectors despite the foul smell when in bloom. I had not found one growing in the wild until now. This tuberous perennial is seen from April to July in rocky places and dry hillsides, generally at low altitudes. In the Mediterranean region of Europe it occurs from Corsica and Sardinia east towards Turkey.

Dragon Arum

Whilst distracted by that exotic beauty I apparently missed a good though distant candidate for Eleonora’s Falcon, that would have been a ninth bird lifer for the trip. Oh well … it was a speck sighting anyway! Four other raptors were observed in these hills or along the road below them over the two days: Short-toed and Booted Eagle, Black Kite and Peregrine; all of which breed in the area.

On the morning of our final day in Macedonia (12th) we explored a second track further to the north-west to try again for Olive-tree Warbler. We were not successful this time but did find the trip’s second breeding pair of Eastern Subalpine Warbler. These offered only fleeting glimpses of themselves, just like the first pair. Hawfinch (not seen by me) and Cirl Bunting (pictured below) were also active along the trail. I would now hope to recognise the latter’s calls in future, it being a bird that I suspect I have at times failed to notice in the southern European field.

Cirl Bunting

The Mavrovouni Hills certainly had a capacity to produce the unusual. I do not over concern myself generally with wild plants, other than to appreciate their place and beauty in the habitat being experienced, since it is not possible to deal adequately with everything in the field. But our tour leader here was a very knowledgeable botanist who would point out plants of note that we came across, so I couldn’t help but get interested at times.

Lizard Orchid

Thread-winged Lacewing

After the Dragon Arum a tall, trackside Lizard Orchid (above, left) was for me the next most exotic wild plant highlight. Usually rare they occur across southern Europe from Spain to the Balkans, though there are also English populations in East Anglia and Kent. I do not know the exact species of the insect (above, right) but it is certainly a prince amongst Lacewings. I have seen smaller members of that flying insect family, also known as Ant-lions many times before but this one was rather more spectacular.

Sombre Tit © rights of owner reserved

Friday’s most memorable bird encounter was with a foraging flock of Sombre Tit. This is a rather bulky tit species with broad head, strong bill and dullish plumage. Roughly the size of Great Tit, it resembles Willow Tit more in colouration but with a noticeably brownish-grey cap. Sombre Tit inhabits open forest, orchard and riverside habitats mostly at middle and low altitude. The species is resident across much of south-east Europe that constitutes 75% of its global breeding range.

In two fairly brief visits to the Mavrovouni Hills we had thus observed an excellent sample of birds for the habitat, as well as some interesting insects and plants. Had the conditions been sunny I expect there would have been much more to see and I would very much like to return here at some time to do the area justice.