It has been a lovely sunshiney afternoon so the call to get out with the camera was too strong to resist. Headed off from home into Centennary Wood. Never been a strong favourite of mine and it disappointed again today. Despite torrential rain yesterday all the ponds were bone dry and there were just no dragons to be found. I did see two brown hawkers on the woodland rides but that was it. This is the pond where last year there were good numbers of ruddy darters but this year just lots of pretty ox eye daisies - no water , no darters.
So I walked onwards and down towards Flitton. My path took me alongside the cornfields. Every so often there were patches of vivid red poppies which stand out like little oases. They always remind me of my visit to Ephsesus which was ablaze with these bright red wildflowers. As I walked the harvest had begun in some fields, so a sign that summer is truely here and time is moving on. Why do we have harvest festival so late when the harvest is gathered home around now most years?
Onwards to Flitton Moor which was much the better part of my walk. The pond was alive with dragons today. Two emperors were going head on for their right to patrol the pond, common darters were busy enuring the next generation and the ruddy darters glittering in the sun. There were good numbers of azure damsels, a couple of bluetails and my first for this year- the small red eyed damselfly - quite a few of these, some sunning on vegetation on the pond, others in tandem and some ovipositing. These are really delicate little damsels and they amazingly tolerate well the brackish water. I walked along the Moor and was rewarded with the Headlight Hawker- the Southern Hawker posing for me and 17 banded demoiselles dancing in the sunlight along the River Flit. On such a lovely and peaceful afternoon I walked onwards to Ruxox- where people lived over 50000 years ago and maybe watched dragons just like me - what a thought, which led to me wandering into Flitwick before heading home.
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