Prickled.....

After all the fun of scarpering off up to zumerzet, this week has mostly been about diligent jobseeking to very little reward. I have had the time to give the patch a bash, with no results to speak of [other than the normal standard what you'd expect stuff, of course!].

This afternoon, I decided, on the back of what seemed like reasonable conditions, to pay a long overdue visit to 'the second best dragonfly site in Devon' [its what it says on its website, so it must be true! ;) ] - Little Bradley Ponds. I figured as it was over 20 degrees, but with sunshine and clouds, there'd be a fair chance of finding resting dragons between the sunny bits that might let me get a photo [I'm not becoming a photographer, btw, I'm just getting near the end of a film and enjoying playing with my paparazzi setup...] [[It needs to be kept in mind that there's a greater than 50% chance nothing will come out recognisable, also]]. Same website said there were Keeled Skimmers and Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies - pretty blue ones to photo, and S B-Ts for number 30. Maybe. I was I admit a little skeptical that bogland damsels would be around old china clay pits come ponds, but it was worth a look.

Access is 'interesting' - an easily missed side road with parking a gateway that will fit two small cars. Just. This does mean its likely to be quiet, it also means the lack of foot traffic has helped to it get a bit wild in there... It wasn't impassable, but I have had the fun of pulling a 1.5cm gorse thorn out of my shin [ok, it was only 3/4 in, but still - ouch], and the brambles got their licks in too. It also looks like it gets pretty muddy. Ok, bad bits done - good bits! There were loads of insects, not just odonata, but lots of butterflies [and flies and grasshoppers and other things] too. The two ponds are very pretty, with each having a perimeter path and a little jetty so you can walk out and look down into the water for all the subsurface action [though I'd be careful with my weight - they look like they've been there a while]. If it wasn't for the busy road right there, it'd be idyllic.

The weather wasn't kind to me - early sunny patches were replaced by rain... Before the rain [and 4 degree temperature drop] I was able to see some dragons though; mostly damselflies, with the usual Common Blue and Azure [one unlucky male Azure got nobbled by one of those spiders that looks like a gorse flower] joined by Blue-tailed and lots of Emeralds. I didn't see a single Keeled Skimmer, and all the dragonflies were also singles - 4-Spotted Chaser, Emperor, and a male hawker sp. that was either Common or Migrant [I only got a side view and it didn't settle]. I found a male Beautiful Demoiselle sheltering from the rain [presumably flew over from the Bovey], and earlier, to my delight, was treated to the sight of a Blue-tailed and a Scarce Blue-tailed sitting on neighbouring rushes! The reason for the Scarce's presence was revealed to be the very boggy and open edge of the west pool [apparently it was designed for dragonflies when restored after china clay extraction ended] - there are similar boggy sides to the east pool, too, but it's older and more vegetated.

Needless to say, the little gits didn't sit for a photo - they let me get set up, then buzzed off... A couple of Emeralds were more obliging - including a nice pair - so we shall have to see. Emeralds were definitely the star performers - while I was standing under a beech, waiting to see if the rain was just a quick shower, one sheltered on a tall sword in front of me, and I was able to study its claspers with my bins - yep, definitely not a Scarce [let alone Southern! ;) ]. Birds were mostly pretty quiet - a few hirundines overhead - though a family of Treeecreeepers did their best to drown the traffic out! So cute.......

So, a little prickled and scratched, I have achieved the target I set myself, and done so before the end of July. Now what... Do I stop? Hell no! I've got the gotta catch 'em all phase out of my system, now its time to see them better! It's getting a bit late for more dragonfly blathering now, so I'll impose that on you next time and just end with a 'this ain't over' [[Cue: Threatening music "Dun Dun DUN...."]]