Beautiful weather today, ideal for dragonfly spotting. As I haven't yet seen Downys in flight, I went to Yardley Chase again. In the one pond complex I visited, there were 20+ males at territory. From previous years, I know that Downys are present on most of the 14 pond complexes, so that makes a rough population estimate 400 (if we assume there are an equal number of males & females). I practiced some in-flight photos and managed a couple of good ones (above). I had to set the camera ISO to 1250 to get a reasonable shutter speed as they fly so fast, so the images are a little noisy. They are my best so far.
Don't forget the Northants Dragonfly Group field trip to Yardley Chase in 13 June - a few spaces are still available (NB: Yardley Chase is a permit only site, with no public access. This field trip has been organised with the permission of Compton Estates). Contact me if you want to come along.
