With the news that a Southern Emerald Damselfly had been seen at Winterton yesterday afternoon, today saw me visiting the area in the hope that it would still be present.
Following a c2 mile trek north to the small pools inland of the dunes, an initial search of the general area only revealed a number of Common Emeralds, including a number of pairs in tandem.
With the searching of the area continuing, this Swallowtail caterpillar was an excellent discovery away from their main areas of occurence.
Fortunately with the finder returning to the site, we established the exact area where the Southern Emerald was seen yesterday and a thorough search of the area ensued but again we drew a blank and it looked as though we would be disappointed. However whilst walking round the edge of the pool I was stunned when it appeared out of nowhere right in front of me and landed on the vegetation by my feet. After a quick check of its features to confirm the id, I alerted everyone else and we watched it for about 10 minutes before it disappeared off towards the pool. About 15 minutes later I again located it on a thistle on the north side of the pool where again it gave good views for 5 minutes or so before again flying out of sight and despite searching for the next couple of hours we couldn't relocate it.
Other dragonflies present included a probable Common Hawker, plus a few Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Emperor and Common Darters.
