Golden-Ringed Dragonfly

Well captured perhaps this is where all our bees are going.

They usually feed on slightly smaller prey! We've got a particularly large number of these spectacular dragonflies in the garden this year, despite last years terrible summer and cold winter.

That is wonderful having large amounts, I have never seen any the other day my daughter seen one in my garden as the birds was watching it, I missed out in seeing it :o(

Wow....one of my fave insects Ilex...this is a great photo, though its a shame about the bee. Later in the summer we have a couple that spend all dusk patrolling the sky above the lawn............

Thanks Janey, they are really amazing aren't they - must be a strong contender for the most spectacular British insect.

I was quite some distance from this one so I couldn't see what it was eating until I loaded the pic onto the computer. Our garden is bordered by a slate-bottomed river which is where they breed and emerge from, but they prefer to feed over the sunnier pond (where they always get chased around by the patrolling male Emperors!) and throughout the grass of the garden. The larvae can apparently take up to 7 years to grow to full maturity...I'm quite in awe of them!

Your place sounds idyllic for them Ilex, I've always loved Dragonflies and Damselflies.......didn't realize though the length of time it takes for them to reach adulthood...they are a great predator. Last summer, I took a pic of a coffee coloured one hanging in our buddleia bush.....I wasn't sure whether it had just emerged and was drying off....it was there all day, then in the evening...gone.