I made my annual August trip to see the dragonflies at Slipper Tarn in the Cragside Estate at Rothbury. It is a small pool with black acidic water, sheltered on all side by tall trees. It is home to common and southern hawkers and is the best place I know to see black darters (Sympetrum danae). These are males in mature colouring.
This is an immature male.
And these are mature females.
The one mating pair I saw was a bit too high in the bushes.
There was a very friendly male southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea) on patrol at the north end of the pond in sunshine. He rested in good view several times.
He was also hovering from time to time so I could practice a few flight shots like this and the one at the top.
Male common hawkers (Aeshna juncea) are generally less sociable, as was this one. I never saw it at rest.
I did see several female common hawkers ovipositing low down in the vegetation at the water's edge.
The first female dragonfly I saw when I arrived didn't allow a good view. I managed only a couple of photos into the light and it flew away before I could move to a better position. I think it was done with ovipositing and I assumed at the time that it was another common hawker. But when I had a close look at the photos the eyes are green and there is a long ovipositor. So it is a female golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), only the second one I have seen, and the first I have seen in Northumberland. The identification has been confirmed on the UK Dragonflies Facebook page and is a first record for the site.
Greetings Chris, that's an excellent record of Golden-ringed at the tarn, unusual too as they rarely stray away from running water to breed. We were up there today but overcast at the time so not a great deal of action though saw all the usual suspects. My eldest boy was hoping to see your Golden-ringed though I explained there wasn't much chance. He still remembers meeting you there a few years back so was pleased it was you who found it. All the best. Alan Mould
ReplyDeleteHello Alan. I wished I had arrived 10 minutes earlier to see if the golden-ringed dragonfly was ovipositing. As you say it would be odd for still water but she was very close to the water as you can see. There are more suitable streams fairly close by so maybe she had been there first. Best wishes. Chris
DeleteAnother rarity Chris! Is this improved observation overall, or is it a change in the distribution of the dragonflies do you think? Saw a banded demoiselle at the river this morning!
ReplyDeleteI think it is both. Dragonfly distribution is changing with climate change and there are probably more people looking for and recording dragonflies. Some things are changing quickly. Southern migrant hawker was a very rare species confined to the far south east until last year but is now in Yorkshire. With luck it will soon be here too.
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