Hawker

Took myself off to Slimbridge WWT this afternoon and got holed up in a 11/2 hour traffic jam! Doing a uey back up the M5 decided to rethink my plans as the whole area was grid locked because of an accident!

Afternoon off as the 'kids' decided to go to Windsor castle so headed to Highnam Woods (the RSPB reserve with closed car-park because of dodgy goings on) and set up the old tripod to catch...well anything going really! No high hopes but suddenly spied a peacock butterfly, Common Darter and Emperor Dragon flitting about. Just about to get down and dirty in the pond and a chap came up with a long lens. Hmm....Well it transpired he'd, 'all the gear but no idea' but I did think better of wading into a pond I knew by rights I shouldn't have been in. Setting Tilly up within ankle biting distance as I strangely wasn't too comfy - not that she would have known what to do anyway...bless ...:)) I moseyed down the path to get this.

Brilliantly camouflaged with her colouring she lit up the hedgerow with the sun shining like jewels onto her wings. I think this is a female Migrant Hawker. The costa or the leading edge to the wing is brown and the thoracic stripes are poorly developed. Rare here until the 1940's when it started coming over from the continent in large numbers. It is now a resident breeding species in England and Wales.

Half and hour later feeling sorry for the chap with what it transpired was a new lens I showed him what I'd been looking at. Threw into the conversation about blip as you must :)) and he looked startled! Then looked at me like I was bonkers!
Yup! :)

Got a few shots of a Grey Wagtail with hover fly and a Common Darter