A quick nip around the corner to Chaddesley Woods today brought the opportunity to snap a couple of shots of Broad-bodied Chasers Libellula depressa perching at the edges of the pond.
The Broad-bodied Chaser is a hefty bit of natures flying machinery when you get up close with them and you can't help but marvel at the designs nature comes up with.
The Broad-bodied Chaser which is a medium-sized dragonfly can be identified from characteristic dark patches at the base of all four wings, a broad, flat abdomen which is yellowish-brown in females and immature males, and powdery blue in mature males (as above). There are also yellow spots along the sides of the abdomen, as well as pale stripes on top of the thorax
The favoured habitat is for shallow ponds open to the sun with a good mixture of surrounding short grassland, long grass and scrub to provide shelter. The males are very territorial and perch on vegetation at the ponds edge on the look out for females and will dart out to confront other males.
The British Dragonfly Society has seen a drop in recorded sightings of Broad-bodied Chasers and they are encouraging anyone who sees one to let them know as they need to ascertain if the drop in records is from less people reporting to them or a drop in their numbers.
On commencing the walk I had thought to myself that I would like to see some or at least one Treecreeper while ambling around. Normally when you think 'oh I would like to see so and so' that pretty much puts the kibosh on any chances you may have. But an hour into the visit the eagle eyed other half stopped me to say, 'what are those two birds just there creeping up that tree'. After lifting the bins up to have a look, my reply was, 'well the clue is in your description'. And there they were two Treecreeper and after edging forward only some 15 foot away at head height climbing and dropping back down the tree trunk. Having only the pocket sized compact camera on me which is great for views and even the close up photographs of insects (in fact they amaze me in how good they are at semi macro shots) there was no chance of a half decent shot of the Treecreeper. so I had to settle for watching them for 15 minutes or so.
It always happens, when you don't heft the big camera and it's even bigger lenses around an opportunity will arrive for a nice photo opportunity, when you do nothing presents itself and you curse the fact that you have to lug the lumps of metal and glass around distracting from your 'nice walk'. I'm probably going to sound like I'm getting old (and I probably am) but I hate the weight of the camera bag these days and it's bashing onto your back all the time. Next time however I may ignore my urge to not have to carry anything apart from myself and opt to hump the camera bag around but we all know exactly what will happen then.....
Comments