Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Male

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Male, originally uploaded by Rezamink.

One of the Common Darters Damian saw on Friday 25th November at Chippenham Pond.
Maybe the last as we had a frost last night...?

Still on the wing!

Damian Pinguey just phoned to say he's watching 4 male Common Darters still flying at the Pond behind the Volvo garage off the A4 in Chippenham. Will check the database later but getting very close to the latest date....!

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Pair

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Pair, originally uploaded by Rezamink.

Damian Pinguey visited The Pond at Chippenham on Saturday where he found this mating pair of Common Darters and also a patrolling Migrant Hawker [which failed to stop and be photographed!].

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) ♂.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) ♂., originally uploaded by od0man.

The male Southern Hawker at rest [plus other shots of him on my photostream].

Late Fliers

First of all, apologies for the lack of reports through the summer; various reasons - not least of which was the rubbish summer we had!
I hope to present a round-up some time during the Winter.
Yesterday I and Chris Beard, a fellow photographer, visited Savernake Forest looking for subjects to point our lenses at - fungi and, hopefully, Odonata! Well we never got as far as the fungi as we were distracted early on at the Column Pool by several mature male Common Darters and a late Southern Hawker male! I even coaxed the Hawker onto my finger where I'm sure he soaked up the warmth which enabled him to continue hunting!
Not the latest date for Southern Hawker, but getting close!