Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Had a good look around the pond in Rownham's Wood during the hottest part of the afternoon today. Two Southern Hawkers were new, and the Emperor that had previously been patrolling the pond looks to have gone. Also a couple of Common Darters. Two Dragonflies along the brook near my house this afternoon too, but I wasn't able to identify. They appeared quite small, possibly Darters

The Autumn migration seems to be slowly getting underway... Hurst Beach on Saturday morning had a good trickle of Sand Martin heading West, and Common Tern seemed to be purposefully heading out South into the Channel. Closer to home, I started my regular vis-mig watch this morning. A few House Martins and Swallows moving South were the only true migrants. Woodpigeons heading North , and two Red Kites more likely to be local commuters. Looks like the Swifts have gone already, while I was busy checking Dragonflies.

No pics again, but a couple of areas visited over the weekend. Keyhaven / Pennington had plenty opf birds, but I was surprised not to see any Dragonflies, round the main lakes. I didn't check the inland ponds though. Balmer Lawn is renowned for Southern Damselfly, but no joy for me. Did see a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and Common Darter. A decent sized pond at Dunbridge, surrounded by woodland, and hefty wire fencing. The water was covered in Damselflies though. I needed the scope to eventually identify them as Large Red-eyed Damselflies, which was cool. Even better was proper flight views of Brown Hawker. At least two patrolling and fighting over the water. I ended up near Mottisfont, a stronghold for Southern Damselfly, but couldn't even find suitable habitat.. Back to the New Forest for them I suspect.

Common Dolphin during the Marinelife SWSurvey, 18th August, 2015. Also seen: Harbour Porpoise, Sunfish, Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, Mediterranean Gull, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Great Skua. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwVPO-oyMGU&feature=share

Originally shared by Peter Jones An excellent couple of days looking for Dragonflies.. Friday Lunchtime in Rownham's Wood, where a new pool has been dug: 1 Beautiful Demoiselle, a Brown Hawker briefly swooped in from the canopy, several Common Darter, a Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and a Hawker that evaded identification (probably a Migrant Hawker). Saturday at Shatterford was superb with my first Small Red Damsel, and my first Black Darter. Also present were Emerald Damselfly, which for some reason I'm finding impossible to photograph. Common Darter, Emperor, many Keeled Skimmers, Azure Blue Damselfly, and Blue-tailed Damselfly.