Having it off in the Quarry

A very nice Sunday dinner cooked by my Daughter in Law Ellen and enjoyed in the company of my son Gavin and Mother in Law Ivy (of course I always refer to her as poison ivy) and Brother in Law Randall was finished by about 3.00 pm giving me time to look in at Shellingford Quarry on my way home to check on the alternate wildlife, as the Quarry is very quiet at the present time regarding birdlife.
I noticed a chap lurking in the herbage with camera in hand obviously with the same intention as myself, it turned out his name was Ian Waller a previous county recorder of Dragon Flys etc for the Northern county of Durham. This chap knew his stuff and I spent the next couple of hours in his company listening to a real insect enthsiast and we were both fortunate to observe Migrant Hawkers mating, most exciting as they flew rapidly round and round and up and down, "get ready with your camera" Ian whispered for they will get tired and will settle to have a rest which they eventually did apparently still coupled giving us a photo opportunity and themselves a breather.
Ian has spent the last couple of days in the county visiting some of the Oxon hot spots for insects many of them on the advice of our own Oxon Dragon Flyer Stephen Burch and he refered to our county as a mega county for Dragons. Eventually his Wife/Partner phoned to let him know where she was as she had gone for a drive round while he played in the quarry, so saying our goodbyes we parted, although there was still one more little treat in the form of a Speckled Wood Butterfly that presented itself to me just before I got back to my car.

camboy