After all the restrictions of the last 18 months it seems quite an expedition to go even as far as Cragside, a round trip of only 50 miles. I went to Slipper Tarn to look at the dragonflies and I was pleased I went early, partly to miss the crowds and because as soon as I arrived I found a female common hawker already laying her eggs.
Common hawkers usually lay tight in to the edge of the water but this one also ventured out into the middle of the pond, something I haven't seen before.
There were lots of male common hawkers on patrol but none stopped for a photo. Then I found one freshly emerged and still expanding his wings while hanging on to his exuvia.
A few minutes later the wings were outstretched and he took his maiden flight.
Cragside is the best place I know to see black darters and they were out in numbers. Here is a male.
And a female.
And a mating pair.
Common darters were common, but not as common as black darters.
I also saw plenty of damselflies - azures,
emeralds,
and large reds.
I found several darter exuviae, only 13mm long so very probably from black darters, our smallest dragonflies. It is amazing that a 29-34mm long dragonfly comes out of a 13mm exuvia.
I also retrieved the common hawker exuvia for a photo. This is 44mm long yet the dragonfly is around 70-80mm.
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