Pittswood Birds

For a bit of a change of scenery, myself and a friend headed out off patch this morning, making a visit to the Ashdown forest, just over the county border in Sussex. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of and maybe photograph the Dartford Warblers there, but alas, were found no sign of them, in fact it was pretty quiet all round as far as birds were concerned, a few Linnets, Whitethroats and Stonechats were the highlights, with a pair of Kestrels up hunting overhead.

We were on a time limit, so decided to have look around the 'old lodge' part of the reserve, specifically the ponds and marsh area in the hope of finding some Odonata there. On arriving at the ponds I immediately saw numerous Four Spotted chasers, plus an Emperor Dragonfly, as well as Common Blue and Large Red Damsels. A Golden Ringed Dragonfly flew tantalizingly past but failed to alight anywhere, then I saw what I thought was a Black tailed Skimmer, which as I approached I found to be in fact a Keeled Skimmer........my first ever!!  :-)

Being short on time, I took s few record shots, as I did so, noting two further specimens that encroached on the initial skimmers territory, ending in a brief skirmish. My time was up all too soon, but I will try and visit here again before the Odonata season closes!

Here's a few of the better images I took ..........................

Keeled Skimmer - a lifer for me!

The eyes on this Skimmer are an amazing colour, being a clear green/blue