Thursday 2 September 2010

Cragside dragons

I'm trying to pack some dragon time in before its too late for this year and thought there may be something different at the Cragside lakes, to those I have been seeing recently at other lower elevation locations.
Sure enough a first time sighting of a Black darter.


A walk around Nelly's Moss North brought half a dozen into view. They don't seem to have much time for Common darters as they chased them whenever their paths crossed. We watched two of them having a go at a Common and you could hear their wings clattering together during the conflict



The only other species were Common darter, but there were loads of them. They were lifting off the sunlit path every couple of yards as we walked.
The rock outcrops were also hosting the darters as they gathered warmth and energy. 





4 comments:

Johnnykinson said...

Very nice Dick. A species i haven't seen yet, so a hint of jealousy as i type.
John

kirstallcreatures said...

Great sightings of the Black Darters, I've never seen one. L

HowdonBlogger said...

Dick,

Same as the others, havent seen a Black Darter yet either. Great shot.

John

Citybirding said...

Thanks all. I must admit I was a bit pleased to see the Black darter