Kibblesworth Brick Works…

 …or Bowes Valley Nature Reserve is a great place for Dragonflies so around the middle of last month my wife and I had a walk around the pond to see what was there. We weren’t disappointed.

Female Emperor Dragonfly.

She landed on the pond

And began to lay eggs.

She was laying eggs in several places.

Male Emperor Dragonfly.

They were always patrolling

So, getting one in a perched position was a bonus.

Emperor with an Azure Damselfly flying close by.

An Emperor with a Four-spotted Chaser above.

Four-spotted Chaser.

One of them kept landing in the same place sometimes with prey.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Burnet Moth.

Small Skipper.

Large Skipper.

Shaded Broad-bar Moth.

Grasshopper.

Little Grebe humbug.

Little Grebe.

Harperley Hall Plant Centre

 Another visit to Harperley for coffee and photography from the coffee shop and the carpark.

Emperor Dragonfly.

“And away.”

Common Darter.

Female Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing.

She landed for a rest.

The Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins were all flying over the pond.

Toadlet (is that even a word).

A couple of Kestrel high up.

A couple of Red Kites were having a bit of a spat. This is one of the protagonists.

This is the other one.

I think the older bird may be trying to chase the younger one off.

I only had my 300mm lens with me and this bird landed too far away for me to identify it (these images are a 200% crop). It may be a Buzzard but I’m not sure so any held would be most welcome. Possibly Marsh Harrier thanks to DaveH for ID.

 

When we got home this Buzzard was flying over the garden.