Robbie's Roots

By robertfelton

Emperor Dragonfly Ovipositing

Whoops I did it again. I went out determined to Blip something other than a dragonfly today. I went to Roxton looking for Egrets (no luck) so I took a wander around the far side of the lake and almost fell over a Roe Deer as it sped from it's cover in the hedge. I didn't even have time to lift my camera to my eye! I went on to work rather dejected and took a few pics of the chickens. I had about an hour to myself after work so decided to go back to the lake to see if there was anything interesting going on. Unfortunately when I arrived, there was someone with a Doberman off the lead, the dog was perfectly well behaved but I concluded the wildlife would have gone to ground.

I had noticed that the old gravel workings along the side of the Bedford Bypass were now quite established with reeds and water plants, so still having half an hour to spare I thought I'd check them out. I knew there was some waterfowl so hoped I could get a Blip of something interesting. I parked in the lay-by, scrambled down the bank crossed a drainage ditch (empty) and made my way towards one of the old workings. I was still a good distance off but could see lots of Dragonfly activity, imagine my surprise to find that the majority of those present were Female Emperor Dragonflies (I'd never seen one before but recognised it straight away). Not only that, they were all ovipositing (laying eggs), in the end I just wished I had more time so I will definitely be returning. So my Blip today just had to be a Dragonfly (again).

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