Dragonfly bonanza

So the conditions were just right.
Still and sunny. Perfect for dragonflies, I thought.
So I scuttled off down to the Orchard Centre at Hartpury in hopeful anticipation.
Just as well I was focusing on dragonflies and not birds today as the pollen count was sky high and the din of my spasmodic and explosive sneezing fits was enough to, quite literally, "fetch ducks off water" as my old Auntie Betty used to say.
First up for the photo shoot was a rather restless Common Darter. He eventually settled for a few seconds and I managed a couple of shots.

Common Darter

As usual, there were plenty of Common Blue Damselflies to be found.

Common Blue Damselfly

Black-Tailed Skimmers were also in good numbers. I like these little fellas. Not only are they gorgeous to look at but they're very accomodating when faced with a camera. They will sit perfectly still while you compose the shot and are rarely in a rush to move on.

Male Black-Tailed Skimmer

A Banded Demoiselle passed by but I was unable to get a shot of it. Then the fun started.
I was more than delighted to see good numbers of Emperor Dragonflies but trying to keep up with them is a something of a challenge. They simply don't ever appear to alight on anything. I followed one, back and forth, for a good fifteen minutes and it never kept still. The best I could manage was some rather poor mid flight photographs, the best of which is below.

Emperor Dragonfly

and so to the birds...........
The best thing about dragonflies? They attract Hobbies. And as if by magic a fine male Hobby came hurtling across the ponds at breakneck speed, catching hapless dragonflies as it went. I was treated to about 15 minutes of this ariel bombardment but was unable to get anything other than blurred photos of the bird due to its incredible speed. But what a great performance!
I aslo nudged the patch list up to 65 with the appearance of a Reed Warbler. The young reedbeds have really flouished this year making it an ideal environment.
The Kestrel chicks have fledged and were being fed in nearby trees by the busy adults.

Male Kestrel

Kestrel and Buzzard

The male Kestrel also took some swipes at a passing Buzzard. Not the sharpest photo but I thought that Buzzard was throwing some great shapes!
Other birds seen: A Reed Bunting, 15 Canada Geese (11 young), and four (count 'em!) soaring Ravens.
All in all, a very satisfactory afternoon!

Tales of the Riverbank

So on Saturday I had this daft idea that I needed to get some river-watching under my belt. I had a flash of inspiration and recalled that a few years ago I had some twitchers luck whilst ambling along the Severn somewhere around Newnham.
It took me about an hour to locate the actual spot (planning is everything). It was the footpath leading from the village of Awre.
'Twas a very dull day so I wasn't expecting to come back with any great photographs but that was the least of my worries.
This was clearly a path that was not well trodden. The grass was a little less than waist height in some parts and wet. Really wet. Trouser soaking, boot leaking, sock squelching wet.
Ah well, all part of the adventure.
Any birds?
Well a few.
Good numbers of Reed Buntings and Sylarks.

Male reed bunting

Skylark

A Little Egret flew by and then I spooked two Oystercatchers who flew out into the river.

Oystercatchers

Little Egret

A sizeable flock of Linnets passed over and one did me the service of pausing atop a bush for a while enabling me to fire off a few photos. The exposure is poor as I was shooting towards the sky but I've had worse photos.

Linnet

Other birds seen included: Reed Warbler, a Hobby and a Green Woodpecker