The golden-ring at last !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its always a gamble with going to hunt for dragonflies as to whether the weather will be kind and favourable but we seem to have made a good decision this week with two fine and warm days - even though we booked the trip weeks ago. I was really keen to see some more species and had looked up good sites in the New Forest - and two of them did not disappoint. By a fast flowing, cool stream I found lots of these beautiful demoiselles. Their name is very apt and their flight butterfly like. The male is an incredible blue and this one was sitting enjoying the sunshine and it shone and glistened.

The female beautiful demoiselle is equally dazzling and is a metallic green with brown iridescent wings.

 They are different to the demoiselles I see locally which are also brilliant creatures but are rightly known as "banded" with their wing marking not spreading across the wings in the same was as their cousins. 

Not necessarily as stunning but equally fascinating was the next new dragon for me - the keeled skimmer. Also known as heathland skimmers this was where I found them basking low down on boggy ground wich led to very muddy and wet boots. They perch low down so the knees got wet as well! Slightly different to the black tailed skimmer and it likes the New Forest for the acidy wet heathland.

  

But the real high point for me was the wonderful Golden Ringed Dragonfly- a completely new family for me - the Spiketails  - Cortuleastridae.  Three Common Golden Rings were patrolling up and down the acidic stream, sometimes hawking upwards and flying off but always coming back to their territory. These are really distinctive and impressive creatures and were clearly great hunters. I was so thrilled that we went back again to ths site today and they duely buzzed and flew for me to see along teh same stretch of river. This is a very long dragonfly and its eyes are amazing and piercing. I am glad I am not on its menu. I still feel so excited seeing these as they have long been on my wish list. And the day ended with a 4th species for to add to my list- the southern damselfly or mercury bluet. Its the smallest damsel in the UK with a weak and low flight. Its flies only in sun so the sunny skies today were truely a bonus. Its called mercury because of the mark on Segment 2 - I could only see this with the bins or in my photos- but its clearly there. So a great two days- four new dragons plus large red damsels, ruddy and common darters - splendid.