broad-bodied chasers!

29-05-23 Around this time last year I heard that broad-bodied chasers had been seen (perhaps for the first time locally) in a wood South of Haddington. The females seemed to have a bolt hole near a log pile at the height of the woods and the males were flying at a pond in the dip between hills. With the worst of the damp and cold Spring behind us and some sunny weather approaching I set off to cycle over to see what I could see.

19.75miles later (1hr24 on the bike) I arrived at the log pile. I felt really pessimistic when there wasn't swarms of big yeller beasties flying around in abundance. But since I was here I would have a shuffle about the area anyway. Apart from the path it is heavy going, being lumpy and full of thistles. You are stepping up and down big ditches and holes disguised by any amount of ferns, bracken, nettles and brambles. In anticipation of this (I had cycled in shorts) I brought heavy waterproof trousers. Not lightweight rain-wear but a pair of old school thicker overtrousers that worked really well. Easy to haul over shoes. A bit non-breathable but almost bombproof in terms of jaggies and nettles. And TICKS. Like most of East Lothian deer country, this place is rife with ticks. The long trousers kept all that at bay while I rolled about in, and lay down in, the long vegetation. The dragons can see you above the horizon, against the sky, if you are not creeping in on all fours. And why was I doing that? To my utter surprise there were several fat yellow dragonflies zipping about the place. It took a while to find them but once your eye was in they were there. All yellow. So either females or immature males. The mature males get a blue pruinescence: a dusty powder blue like finish. 

female broad-bodied chaser

scorpion fly

I was very thrilled to see these remarkable creatures again. Especially having assumed they weren't in the vicinity. I had to approach them very cautiously as they were flighty and responded to any sudden movements by flying off at great speed. And they were nearly impossible to photo on the wing as they didn't patrol, like the males round a pond, to a given route, again and again.

another scorpion fly - female

four-spotted chaser (m) on same site - similar yet different

brown silver-line moth
loads of these charisma-free flutterers

I was having fun but my waterproof trousers were beginning to get quite humid and I removed them before the condensation built and I got soaked by waterproofs. I put them back in the pannier and cycled half a mile down the road to a small track that turns along the bottom of the field and wood boundary. There is a pond, there are several apparently, but I was only aware of one, where the adult male BBCs fly. Most of the way along the track and someone called my name. It was Alistair, who had had the same thought as myself about chasing chasers today. He had arrived a while back and he pointed out who was up to what. There were maybe 4 or 5 male BBCs chasing everything, hoping something would turn out to be a female BBC. This seemed unlikely, as the only females at the pond were there to lay eggs. They would be grabbed by a male who would try and link up with them. 

I at first thought they were almost entirely unsuccessful as they would fly around for a short time then separate. I assumed the female gave a message saying no thanks I'm just dropping off the kids at the pond, maybe later. However I read that mating takes place on the wing and can last less than a minute. So maybe the intervention can result in a positive score for the male BBCs if they can fertilise the female at any point. There'll be a website somewhere no doubt, it doesn't go into that behaviour on the couple of sites I've visited. 

Anyway, mostly the pond was full of male BBCs (more arrived as the day went on) all hunting for partners, who were thin on the ground. Occasionally they would grab another species and I saw an unlucky male 4-spotter being grabbed and manhandled for a few moments before being cast to the side. They are powerful fliers and zip around the pond at huge speeds. Which makes taking their photos in flight very tricky. When a female is egg laying she flies nearly vertically, repeatedly brushing the surface of the water with her tail. Making in flight photos possible, although never easy.

male broad-bodied chaser

exuvia of 4-spotter or BBC

Alistair also pointed out the large number of exuvia - maybe about 30 around the pond on the reeds. There weren't as many odonata flying, so many, it followed, were elsewhere. (Do the females fly over to the logpile up the hill? Alistair didn't find any between there and here, when he went from one site to the next.) Indeed if you walked in any direction away from the pond an occasional dragonfly would take off vertically and helicopter off to the nearest tree or bush. A mix of male and female.

The newly emerged individuals rested in place having exited their skins then, after a short while, flown to somewhere safe to harden their wings and pump up their bodies. They very quickly get much bigger than the small skin they burst out of - the one they have been swimming about in for maybe a year or 2. 

so much fun to be had at what is not much more than a large puddle!

exuvia

2 pairs of large red damselflies

I was so thrilled to see the BBCs I almost ignored all the other pond life. There were 4-spotters going about their business and it was heaving with damselflies many paired up as well. There were also various butterflies passing through, most of which I also paid little attention to, bar a pair of walls who I found in cop. Few of the larger whites were stopping for a photo. 

We discussed the difficulties of photographing such speedy fliers and agreed that getting decent in flight shots was almost impossible unless you get lucky with one hovering near you and have your camera poised and ready for action. I took a LOT of shots knowing most would be going into the recycle bin. Occasionally you get lucky. And possibly better to be on your own rather than doubling the number of hostile appearing onlookers. Normally I go do this stuff solo. 

I found a newly emerged BBC and took it over to show Alistair. They are not flighty when newly emerged and happy to sit on a fingertip drying wings etc. I tried to put it on a nearby plant to be photographed and it flew a yard or 2 onto some pond reeds and then partially into the water. It flopped about a bit and I cursed, feeling entirely responsible for it getting an early bath, that could be fatal if left to wallow. I took socks and shoes off and waded into the warm murky water and mud (over my knees very quickly) to rescue the young male - although still yellow-ish in colour you can tell from the claspers or appendages at the tail end, that it is a male. I put it to dry out on a tall stemmed plant away from the pond.

newly emerged male

early bath inconvenient as just recently swapped out gills

female BBC egg-laying

The pondside females would very quickly be spotted by males
who would fly at them and grab them.

large red damselflies

Alistair left after a while but had trouble getting off-site
as he kept finding other suitable subjects (female BBC in grass etc.)

Although on the face of it most of the action seemed to be over the pond, there was quite a lot going on just a short way away. Both male and female BBCs and many of the other species as well. I took a walk through the nettle laced grass, picking up many stings while dragonflies distracted me. I found several females that would not have been left alone to relax nearer the pond. They seemed to be recharging, before returning to the fray. I have no idea how often they can be fertilised or how often they generate more eggs. But I do know how many nettle stings you can accumulate stalking them through knee deep grass. Many!

a pair of walls

lacewing

This male was outside the pond field. I saw him sunbathing and his stick was so far away from background grass I knew it would make a good blurred-out background. But he was the other side of a barbed wire fence. I took some shots from my side of the fence. He was still slightly out of reach though and so I tentatively held the top wire down and stepped tippy-toe over, risking all for a photo. He flew off once or twice but quickly returned to about the same place on a couple of twigs off a small shrub. I crouched at the side of the dirt track very pleased he turned out to be a nearly perfect specimen with no visual distractions, the background grass perfectly complimenting his blue pruinescence. 

BTW if you have a small garden pond and want to attract odonata, put a few perching sticks round the edge where they can land and settle, and keep an eye on what's going on.  

Above is a rare shot of a pair of BBCs in cop. I assumed none of the matings were successful because they were only seconds in duration after which the pair split. Common hawkers (for instance) will carry off a female (with a cellophane clatter of wings) and often mate high in a tree top for maybe several minutes before parting ways. However when I read the BBCs can mate entirely on the wing and it takes less than a minute, I had to revise my ideas. But I still don't know for sure. Clearly more reading required - but I've been too busy outdoors.

I spent the last moments by the pond taking photos into the sun of the males as they took a breather on the reeds in the corner. They would regularly return to the same spot and if you moved slowly you could get very close to their perches without disturbing them. I was probably half covered in mud by then and smelling of pondweed. It was a delightful afternoon in their company and I was reluctant to leave. 

However I had another plan - to head home via Saltoun Big Wood and check out the dragonfly ponds there. It is the longer way home but on less busy paths, so I headed up the road to Gifford then turned right and onto several miles of undulating tarmac before East Saltoun and then along to the Big Wood. It was still scorchio, but late in the day when I arrived - I had contemplated giving it a miss and let my arrival time determine the outcome. Before 3pm I'll have a quick look around - after, and I'll give it a miss. It was 2.58pm when I went in the gate. It was always going to be second best to the BBCs along at Coulston Wood - it is curious they have not flown the shortish distance - 7miles, about 5 as the dragon flies - to this other dragonfly hotspot. 

pond heaving with tadpoles

It was unusual to see the pond quite busy with dragonflies and damselflies but few actually skimming over the water and hunting, the way the hawkers and black darters will when they appear. There was an occasional 4-spotter flying but most seemed happy to hang out on reeds at the pond side. I got in some practice with back lit sparkly shots trying to engineer bokeh light circles behind perched 4-spotters. However they were no match for the glamour of the broad-bodied chasers. And I was getting tired and still had 16 to 20 miles to cycle. 

It was a great day out and the weather held perfectly to get the best images of these excellent creatures. Still another couple of species to appear, so there will be return visits to Saltoun, even though little can match the splendour of these yellow and blue masters of the air. Well, there are a couple of spectacular Scottish species but they can only be found across in the West and further North. As yet no plan to try hunt them down, but it is very tempting. Sadly Mary doesn't share my huge enthusiasm for odonata, much as she enjoys an occasional photo of one.

doesn't get better than this!

46 miles over 6hrs 35