Less Is More

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-uAhLnIqhU

After a decade or so of local searches, I found a breeding site for Lesser Emperor just a stone's throw or five from my front door, The site at Ben's Yard Reservoir, hasn't been accesible for very long but from late June onwards the site has been excellent for these recent colonists from the continent.  As I have understood a little more of the habits and behaviour of these great dragonflies, I have been hoping to find a confiding individual that didn't immediately fly off or wasn't completely battered and wing damaged.  This one was almost that - certainly a vast improvement on previous efforts.  As I watched the Emperor it dawned on me that I must have been close to a Reed Warblers nest, the birds coming very close, warily as I clicked away.  I did move away swiftly once I realised I was causing a problem for the birds, and they got on with their feeding once I'd stepped back a few paces.

On the walk back, one of several Emperors, themselves still expanding their distribution northwards and further into Scotland, lingered on a stem.  This reminded me of a drive in the Camargue a few years ago where I had to stop within a cloud of Lesser Emperors disturbed from their roadside rest upon reeds and bushes in a damp, woodland meadow.

Not in Stuntney - this Lesser Emperor was in The Camargue