Blagdon Estate

A Plant Heritage plant sale at Blagdon Estate last Sunday  provided the first opportunity for me to have a look around the estate. Google maps had shown that there were some stretches of water so I hoped to spot a dragonfly or two.

First port of call was the lake south east of the hall.

Walking around the east side we came upon a sun soaked glade at the edge of the lake. Dozens of Common Darter and  3-4  Migrant Hawkers soaking up the sun

After an extended wander we walked down to the old walled kitchen garden

 We were confronted with a sight I had never dreamed possible in the North East. Wherever you looked there were 10-12 dragonflies on the wing. I'm guessing that the numbers were so high as a result of the preceding 7-8 days of fine weather. It was unbelievable to me having scratched around this area looking for dragonfly often with meagre and at times zero results.

More Migrant Hawkers on the south facing garden wall

Just in case anyone is interested the next Blagdon open day is 21 October. Probably a bit late for dragons but you never know since it is a really sheltered area.