Persistence.
Persistence or madness? It has taken more than a decade, much more than a decade. At my fifth attempt over many years, yesterday I finally found one of Britain's rarest breeding damselflies. This is a male Southern Damselfly (Coenagrion mercurial) living on the extreme north western fringe of its European range and it is uncommon there too!
I have searched before in its very specific habitat of runnels and tiny streams of acid heathland before without any success. Even yesterday it was a very close call. After two hours of 30C blazing New Forest heathland sun it was time to call it a day. Fortunately at that moment, another local enthusiast turned up at the site and kindly re-directed me about 300 metres away from where I had been searching. Bingo! On a tiny runnel that frankly looked identical to the one I had just been looking on, there they were, several dozen of them!!
Persistence.
Persistence or madness? It has taken more than a decade, much more than a decade. At my fifth attempt over many years, yesterday I finally found one of Britain's rarest breeding damselflies. This is a male Southern Damselfly (Coenagrion mercurial) living on the extreme north western fringe of its European range and it is uncommon there too!
I have searched before in its very specific habitat of runnels and tiny streams of acid heathland before without any success. Even yesterday it was a very close call. After two hours of 30C blazing New Forest heathland sun it was time to call it a day. Fortunately at that moment, another local enthusiast turned up at the site and kindly re-directed me about 300 metres away from where I had been searching. Bingo! On a tiny runnel that frankly looked identical to the one I had just been looking on, there they were, several dozen of them!!