Tag Archives: Broad-bodied Chaser

Two dragons

28 Wednesday May 2025

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For me, the larger dragonflies have been few and far between this Spring. I’ve seen the odd one but fleetingly and its flown off before I could get a good view. Or I’ve heard one, that distinctive sound of the small wings rustling together as it takes flight. So, finally to have found two dragons that stayed still long enough for me to admire their colours and get some photographs has been very welcome indeed. Below are a Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) and a Broad-bodied chaser (Libellula depressa). Fingers crossed for more sightings to come.

A day of golden dragons

19 Wednesday Jun 2024

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Last Saturday was a day of golden dragons …

240619 black-tailed skimmer

my first Black-tailed skimmers (Orthetrum cancellatum) of the year (unfortunately, the male didn’t stop for a photo),

240619 broad-bodied chaser

a female Broad-bodied chaser (Libellula depressa), and …

240619 four-spotted chaser

a Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata).

The chasers

31 Wednesday May 2023

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There are three common or locally common species of chaser dragonflies, the Libellula, in Britain – so far, I’ve only seen two of them, the two shown here, the Four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) and the Broad-bodied chaser (Libellula depressa). I’ve just been checking the Welsh biodiversity database and found that the third species, the Scarce chaser (Libellula fulva), can be found at a couple of local sites, so I need to make finding that species a priority. Meantime, these other two chasers are active now around ponds and small lakes so do try and spot yourself a dragon or two if you’re out walking in your local countryside.

230531 4-spotted chaser

Four-spotted chaser

230531 Broad-bodied chaser

Broad-bodied chaser (male)

Golden dragon

05 Thursday May 2022

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Golden dragon sounds like the name of a Chinese restaurant but no! This particular golden dragon is a Broad-bodied chaser (Libellula depressa), my first dragonfly of the year and a glorious glowing beauty, I’m sure you’ll agree. Now that my long lens is out of action and I’ve only got my point-and-shoot camera for photos, I didn’t think I’d be able to get good dragonflies shots this year. But this dragon was busy munching on its lunch so I was able to get quite close.

220505 broad-bodied chaser

192/366 Damsels and dragons

10 Friday Jul 2020

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Last summer was so hot and dry that many of the local ponds dried up completely, which may be why I’m not seeing as many damselflies and dragonflies as I have in previous years – perhaps their larvae didn’t survive that dry period. Here are a few I have seen in recent weeks …

200710 blue-tailed damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly: though the females come in several colour forms, both they and the males, like this one, have the blue spot on their lower abdomen, which is how they got their name.

Common blue damselflies, here an immature female, a male and, below, a pair in classic mating pose.

200710 common blues mating200710 broad-bodied chaser

And the dragons: a glowing female Broad-bodied chaser

200710 common darter

I’ve seen my first two Common darters in recent days, which is late, as they can appear as early as May.

200710 emperor female ovipositing

A female Emperor laying her eggs (ovipositing) under the vegetation of a local pond. Let’s hope that pond retains enough water this year for her offspring to survive the winter months.

Lively Lavernock

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Day 12 of my #30DaysWild was spent wandering around the nature reserve at Lavernock. Though it’s not yet the riot of colour it will be in another month or so, many wildflowers are already blooming, including the Common spotted and Pyramidal orchids, and plenty of critters were feasting on nectar and pollen.

Today’s highlights included my first Six-spot burnet moth of the year, which was dazzling in the bright sunlight, and my second Small copper butterfly, a rather tatty looking specimen but still lovely to see. The Large skippers, Common blues and Speckled woods were abundant, and I also saw whites, a Brimstone and several Meadow brown butterflies.

180612 1 small copper

The pond was alive with dragon- and damselfly action, with both a female Emperor and a female Broad-bodied chaser ovipositing. There were three male Broad-bodied chasers constantly squabbling over territory and a Four-spotted chaser trying to avoid them all. Damselflies included Large reds, Common blues, Azures and Blue-tailed. ’Twas a very lively place today!

180612 Broad-bodied chaser male180612 Broad-bodied chaser emale

Birding at St David’s Vale

26 Saturday May 2018

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I might also have called this blog post ‘One hundred and eighty!’. Let me explain …

180525 St Davids Vale (1)

Last Wednesday I joined fourteen other members of the Glamorgan Bird Club for a day’s birding in the stunning scenery of St David’s Vale, near Abergavenny. We walked part of an ancient hollow way …

180525 St Davids Vale (4)180525 St Davids Vale (6)

Beneath mighty oaks in an equally ancient woodland carpeted with bluebells …

180525 St Davids Vale (2)180525 St Davids Vale (3)

And then, as the sun broke through the low cloud that had earlier floated across the border from England, we climbed up on to the broad open moorland, with panoramic views all around and the impressive peak of Sugarloaf looming to our right.

180525 St Davids Vale (5)

Most of the birds mocked my photographic skills and no-so-long lens as they perched on distant tree tops and bushes but I was delighted to hear and then see my very first Wood warbler, and then, on the moorland, several beautiful Whinchats. And those two sightings brought my year list to – yes, you guessed it – one hundred and eighty!

Our keen amateur naturalists also spotted a Small heath butterfly and two Common heath moths (this is the male; the female landed on my trouser leg so another birder got that picture), and a Broad-bodied chaser dragonfly. And we were entertained by the bumbling flights of several Cockchafers (I’ll cover those in a future post.)

Small heath butterfly
Common heath moth
Broad-bodied chaser

Cockchafer

My bird list for the today was: Mistlethrush, Robin, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Great tit, Carrion crow, Meadow pipit, Willow warbler, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Blue tit, Blackcap, Skylark, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Garden warbler, Long-tailed tit, Wood warbler, Stonechat, Raven, Tree pipit, Linnet, Whinchat, Wren, Cuckoo, House sparrow, Pied wagtail, Dunnock, Magpie and Jackdaw. It was a perfectly wonderful day!

Dragons at Lavernock

27 Sunday Aug 2017

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There were some cracking dragonflies scooting around the pond at Lavernock Nature Reserve yesterday.

Both the male and the female Common darters posed very obligingly for me.

170827 Emperor male

The male Emperor kept busy patrolling the pond and indulging in occasional rapid trysts with a female. Judging by his tattered wings, he’s notched up quite a few trysts in recent days / weeks. He only stopped once, and then very briefly, so this photo doesn’t really do him justice.

170827 Emperor female

The female Emperor was then kept busy laying eggs at various spots all around the pond edges. A woman’s work is never done!

170827 Broad-bodied chaser male

The star of the show was this gorgeous male Broad-bodied chaser. Apparently, this is very late in the season for them, and he was looking pristine, so perhaps he had only recently hatched. Whatever his story, he was a stunning sight.