Scorching scarce chaser...

I thought yesterday was hot, but today's been even hotter - 31.5C by lunchtime!

Pete and Alex had to do some suction sampling at the Great Fen, so I offered to drop them off at Woodwalton, in the hope that I could have a walk round before it got too hot. We arrived before eight, but by nine it was becoming really rather steamy. I had planned to have a shortish walk, returning to pick them up at lunch time. But I bumped into them on a drove at about nine, and they said that it was going more quickly than planned and they'd probably be finished by eleven. So a quick change of plan, and I had an unexpected two hours of mooching round the fen.

I have to say I mooched very slowly, pausing in any patches of shade or breezy spots to try and keep cool. At times it was hard to see, thanks to the sweat running into my eyes. It was odd to think that just over six months ago I'd been walking round the fen on one of the coldest days of 2010, with the ground frozen hard and a glorious hoar frost turning the trees white.

But despite the heat I enjoyed myself and got lots of shots of dragonflies and damselflies, as well as the odd flower and butterfly. Although I had several blippable shots I felt I had to post this image of a scarce chaser, as I'd mentioned them yesterday. This individual was quite a poser! After chasing rivals from it's territory it would always return to the same reed stem, and was quite happy to sit there and have it's picture taken. It was in remarkably good condition with only a small chunk out of one wing. It knew I was there and watched my carefully the whole time.

The males of this species can be confused with male black-tailed skimmers, but only the scarce chaser has a dark patch at the base of the wings, and brownish spots at the wing tips. This is a very local dragonfly, being confined to a a number of large river systems in south and east England, where it can be very frequent. The male establishes a territory in mid-morning and select a vantage point such as this reed stem. They are very attentive and will investigate any movement in the vicinity, which is presumably why it was fascinated by me!

After an early afternoon siesta, the boys and I cleaned the cars - a very rare occurrence only prompted by the fact that the newer one has to go in for its service and MOT tomorrow, and I had to make the old one presentable enough to take out on the road!!

PS Probably even better in large - amazing eyes!