Brampton dragonflies and butterflies

I only occasionally photograph dragonflies and damselflies, the Odonata. My big zoom doesn’t give me the best results with these insects for some reason. However, I was at Brampton Wood yesterday for the recently emerged Black Hairstreak butterflies, of which I saw several dozen. Took a shorter zoom, 75-300mm instead of 150-600mm and tried my chances on snapping some dragonflies.
First in the frame was this lovely Black-tailed Skimmer, Orthetrum cancellatum. What a great scientific name.
Black-tailed Skimmer – Orthetrum cancellatum
And, here’s a male of the relatively common species Broad-bodied Chaser, Libellula depressa, coming into land on a stick protruding from Wayne’s Pond at Brampton Wood.
Broad-bodied Chaser coming in to land
A Four-spotted Chaser, Libellula quadrimaculata, favoured the perching sticks in the pond too.
Four-spotted chaser with its eight spots!
Another interesting dragon at Brampton Wood is the relatively rare Green-eyed Hawker, Aeshna isoceles. The isoceles is a reference to the yellow triangle on its second abdominal segment. It has an alternative vernacular name, Norfolk Hawker, this common name in the UK refers to its lasting presence in the county of Norfolk, although it was common in the Cambridgeshire Fens until the 1980s. It is known to exist in Suffolk and Kent, but is localised and scarce.
Green-eyed, or Norfolk, Hawker
However, old Green Eyes is back…in Cambridgeshire. Although it remains fairly elusive it alway...

Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - June 14, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Invertebrates Lepidoptera Source Type: blogs