LIFER!!!!!!!

Down to less than 5 feet away, just cruising past me, utterly unconcerned by my presence - I admit I did a silly dance afterwards I was so delighted!

That's the full set, too [at last].

Oh, you want to know what it was??

Only a frickin' Grass Snake!

What? Its a big thing for me - at last I've seen all the British reptile species* - and this was such a good view; swimming past, then under the boardwalk I was stood on, then out the other side and only going when it felt the clumping footfalls of a couple coming along the main drag a good 50 feet away...

[[*Yes, in a very unconventional order I know, with Grass Snake last, but what can I say? They're funny things, reptiles!]]

Back to the start. Tuesday was a hot sunny and [supposedly] calm day - ideal for me to get out and do some serious Odonata-hunting. A term-time weekday also meant the number one site was.. well, as available as it gets. I speak of Stover CP - in some circles known as 'Newton Dogs' due to the numbers of chavs and their pets on the circular lakeside walk... Also home to some very confiding wildlife - like GC Grebes that will come Mallard-close in winter [doing a Hooded Merganser and hunting the fish that come for the ducks' bread].

It was indeed hot and sunny - though an intermittently fresh SW wind made things a little more comfortable - my car's thermometer read 29 degrees.... Ouch. There were [according to the very neat table in the Shiny New Hide] 16 species of dragon- and damselfly about, and in a little over 4 hours I am happy to say I saw 13. In order of ID [as an Azure posed early on, but the Common Blues were being naughty]

::Deep breath:: Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Keeled Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Small Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Red-eyed Damselfly.

Unfortunately, Downy Emerald Dragonfly was one that eluded me - which is a pity as they're purdy and hard to catch up with - but I'll be back!

The heat meant all the Odonata were supercharged - zooming about at warp speed and hardly sitting still for more than 10 seconds - giving a spectacular time but making pinning trickier IDs very difficult! I think you'd need a very fancy digital camera to have any chance of getting decent photos in weather like this - my ME Super tried its best, but having a macro lens on didn't really help - a 4-spot isn't going to let you get in range, even if you're sat still waiting for it! I might have another go at the damsels though..

I'm really enjoying getting to grips with this, subtleties of abdominal markings and such, its like and yet unlike birding. Very variable too - the 4-spots were everywhere, guarding even the smallest pool against all-comers, while the Golden-ringed took an hour and a half of wandering through the backways, following streams. The two 'blues' were also prolific, but getting a good enough look to see if they had a tennis racket or a U was tricky - not least as they often settled too close for my bins, and a step back flushed them... Red-eyed, as the 'easiest' blue, duly proved elusive until the last pool I checked - and I was watching it sitting there when I noticed the Grass Snake!

All in all a very good use of a far too hot and sunny day. :D