Hoveringham, Black Tailed Skimmers and one of the UK's most beautiful Hoverflies.

Black Tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum, Hoveringham 06/07/2014

I haven't been out and about much of late, other commitments and watching my son play a bit of cricket,  two hundreds and a fifty in the 3 innings prior to me going to watch him, managed to get himself out first ball when I'm there to watch.  He is now in Sri Lanka hopefully seeing some wonderful wildlife and avoiding Dengue fever.  Weather forecast for Sunday wasn't to promising but the afternoon shaped up really nicely, good sunny spells with some warmth in the air.  A walk down to Hoveringham and the flooded gravel pits.  Plenty of dragonflies about most being Black Tailed Skimmers, not a dragonfly I find too often around here but really common in and around the stream that skirts the pits.   I also found what I consider to be the most beautiful of British flies Chrysotoxum festivum.  I have these in the garden every year but they always seem to settle just out of camera reach.  

Chrysotoxum festivum, Hoveringham 6th July 2014

Black Tailed Skimmer - Hoveringham Nottinghamshire 6th July 2014