Butterflies, Dragonflies and a Hobby.

The storms that we had at the back end of last week which were a remnant of the hurricanes that battered the USA have now thankfully blown through and we are now enjoying some lovely weather. Susan and I have been out walking locally over the last two days enjoying these beautiful late summer conditions. Down at Llangors Lake some Butterflies were on the wing and about time because it’s been a pretty poor summer for them.

Principally Small Copper,



and Comma,


were flying and showing in numbers.

Look at the way these Commas blend in to their surroundings,




The Dragonfly population at the lake at this time of year is almost exclusively Migrant Hawkers and these insects like to fly around trees and hedges and unlike other Hawkers they perch in view allowing a chance of a photograph.


Male.


Male and Female.

We had been watching these lovely insects and just enjoying the morning when we could hear some raptor – like calling, and then over the tops of the trees a Hobby flew into view and started hawking the Dragonflies. These lovely birds are a joy to watch and their aerial dexterity is quite amazing and it flew around for a few minutes treating us to a superb flying display as it ate Dragonflies on the wing, then just as quickly it disappeared out of sight.



A fine end to a very pleasant morning.