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.

Odonata (9): Wicken Fen ... Black-tailed Skimmer

It was good to be back on Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, a place I have known for many years, but have not had the chance to visit since we left Cambridge two decades ago. The blustery conditions were far from ideal for dragonfly-spotting, but we were delighted to find this handsome female, sheltering in the long grass.

An ID of a female Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) was confirmed by the British Dragonfly Society. You can see the yellow costa, a major vein, on the wings in the top photo. The pterostigma, a coloured mark on the outer extremity of each wing, is hard to make out in my pictures. It should be a dark shade between brown and black. Skimmers, not surprisingly, zoom along, just above the surface of the water. The male of the species looks completely different ... perhaps it is a case of blue sky and sunshine! 

If this iconic windpump sends out a signal of the past, you may be interested to read about an ambitious project to protect the future, under the name of Wicken Fen Vision.

Yellow Waterlily

You can read more about the plants here.

There were one or two pairs of Damselfly about ...

I think this is a Common Blue (male) ...

... and a male Azure Damselfly.