Blawhorn Moss NNR
After carrying out some seasonal maintenance tasks at Blawhorn Moss last week, I decided to take a moment to enjoy the ponds at the boardwalk. They’ve been looking pretty dry, but after the recent rainfall they’ve been given a new lease of life and they were buzzing with dragonflies and damselflies!
I happened to have the boardwalk to myself, which was probably a good thing as I was lying on my belly trying to capture the damsels and dragons which were resting on the kick-boards.
As I lay there, I spotted the photo-op of the day – one of them was sitting very nicely in front of the sculpture. I shuffled myself over with my elbows to get the right position, luckily still no one around to see that. I was rewarded with the below photo before it flew off.
Dragonflies are mesmerizing to watch. I sat observing their behaviours for a while. Not only do they make good visual entertainment, but they make an incredible amount of noise for such small (albeit large for insects) creatures. There were many Common Hawkers hawking around at head-height and I could hear the wings as they flew past.
The Four-spotted Chasers were noisiest though, as the males appear to smash into each other, fighting for territory resulting in crackly, crashing noises. They are hardy creatures indeed.
The below video attempts to capture this mindful moment!
Dragonfly Week is running from 17th – 25th July. Details and ways for you to get involved can be found here.
2 bogs, a swamp and some islands 