Dragonfly Tour Episode 7 - Downy Emerald Dragonfly at Wake Valley Pond

I go looking for Downy Emerald Dragonflies Cordulia aenea at Wake Valley Pond in Epping Forest in Essex, back in late May 2022, and find plenty of other wildlife too.
Be sure to check out the rest of the series here: • Dragonfly Tour
Intro Music:
Comrades Always by Eric Matyas
www.soundimage.org

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

So good.
A great morning out.
Lovely to see the Mandarin family - if we do see them around here they are really skittish!
And some absolutely brilliant footage of the dragonflies. No idea how you do it - I can only ever capture them when they’re still. And even then it’s difficult
Fantastic to see 👏👏👏👏
Have a great week ahead 👍👍👍

[@ukwildlife]

Thanks, yes mandarins are one of my favourite birds.
I had plenty of out of focus or empty clips of video trying top film dragonflies this year. Emerald dragonflies are a particular pain as they hover for a few seconds and fly off as you manage to focus on them!
Have a great week too!

[@IanPhillipsWildlife]

Nice shots I find dragonflies tough to film. Good to see the Grass snake, Wake Valley Pond is great place to see them.

[@ukwildlife]

Thanks, yes they are not the easiest subject but I like to think |Ive got better after a few years of photographing them and this year just trying to film them! I had not seen grass snake at Wake Valley before, was a nice sized adult too :)

[@wildlifespotteruk]

Brilliant video. You did a good job with filming the Dragonflies as I know from experience they are very difficult to get in flight, lol. Also loved the Grass Snake shot, only ever seen one before in the wild.

[@drofnasw]

Welcome back! Good video.

[@ukwildlife]

Thanks, already started on editing the next 2 so should be as long between them next time!

[@drofnasw]

@@ukwildlife Great! Just a gentle reminder -- I'm still hoping to see some behind the scenes footage of the "dragonfly shed" (or whatever you call it). Curious to see the setup that enables you to get good shots of live aquatic insects.

[@cpa2788]

What time of year was this filmed, Neil? I'm guessing early June. Maybe late May?
I'll be looking to tour around again next year, but it's a long way from the North East to be too early or too late. :)

[@ukwildlife]

Sorry yes it was late May, 21st to be precise. 1st upload failed and I forgot to add the date when I uploaded again. Sorted now, thanks for the heads up.

[@cpa2788]

​@@ukwildlife Thank you very much.