Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Odonata (10): Burgh Castle ... Black-tailed Skimmer


I kept hoping we might see a dragonfly at Burgh Castle, but thought the windy conditions would probably keep them grounded. We finally caught sight of one, flying above the path by the car park. The boards mentioned the Norfolk Hawker Dragonfly, but the insect above did not match the description. 

It is my belief that it is in fact a male Black-tailed Skimmer. You can see the female in the photo below: we saw this one at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire a couple of weeks ago. The two are completely different!

I have just learned that these Skimmers have clear wings, unlike Chasers.  

This female was at Wicken Fen.
The wonderful Roman wall and bastion at Burgh Castle, with brick tile courses between the flint.

Lots of wayside poppies ...

You can see the butterflies we saw at Burgh Castle in this post ... here.

6 comments:

  1. That poppy shot is just gorgeous! Glad you included the castle. Always wonderful to see. Glad you found some dragonflies!

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  2. some wonderful photos. so glad you were able to see some dragonflies. makes a trip out even better when we can spot what we want to see. have a great night~

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  3. Caroline, i also was hoping to see some Odonata at home in the province because it is already raining, but the lone damselfly i see doesn't even alight on anything for me to shoot it. I was so disappointed. We don't have bodies of water nearby so they are seldom seen in our area!

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  4. Caroline,
    Never seen this dragonfly before very cool! Loved the roman wall would have enjoyed seeing some of the detail of its construction also.

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  5. Thank you all so much for your comments ... I'm not a great one for things military, but this place has special associations for me!

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  6. Dragonflies are wonderful to see, your poppy picture is beautiful.

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