Migrant waders at Oare

This is a juvenile Ringed Plover - white not buff above the eye, no sharp dip in the dark below the eye, a relatively thick bill and possibly a little orange on the legs, and a fairly clear primary projection.

This is a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, with neat anchor-marked scapulars with clearly outlined white edges. Pale and pastel, longer-legged in comparison to Dunlin.

Oare Marshes

Nice view of the Little Ringed Plover, the first one that I have definitely seen.

Yellow legs (despite the mud) and slight yellow eye-ring. Buff supercilium. Sleek shape. 

Bony's Gull at Oare

Bonaparte's Gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia, a rare wanderer from America, the gull on the right of course! I wonder where this bird spends its summers, and who with!

Focussing on the Round Pond Dragons at Leybourne

Late afternoon. From the Pond-dipping platform on the Round Pond a female Emperor Dragonfly meandered past briefly.

Small Red-eyed Damselflies were close to the bank on Blanket Weed and Water plants, there no Water Lilies and apparently no Red-eyed Damselflies. Go figure?

A few Blue-tailed Damselflies were on the emergent stems.

Common Blues were on the Blanket Weed, emergent stems and many were all around the pond on the grasses and herbaceous plants, mainly males. 

Mainly dragons at Leybourne Lakes

I paused to see what I could find from the footbridge over the main stream through the park.

It was very interesting to see the apparent split in behaviour between the male and female Banded Demoiselles, with the males getting into territorial activity down by the water edge, while the females tend to hold back, often being seen higher up or further back, resting more calmly on the vegetation.

The males occasionally stayed still enough for a photograph, in their finery:

I only found one Black-tailed Skimmer, quite fresh, off the path by the side of the stream, perhaps as the paths were so well-traveled on this warm afternoon:

There were also a few Blue Tailed Damselflies on the vegetation:

Then I moved on to the "Key Conservation Area" pond, where there many dozens of male Common Blue Damselflies feeding and resting on the vegetation 10 m or so away from the water's edge.

Mainly dragons at Leybourne Lakes

I paused to see what I could find from the footbridge over the main stream through the park.

It was very interesting to see the apparent split in behaviour between the male and female Banded Demoiselles, with the males getting into territorial activity down by the water edge, while the females tend to hold back, often being seen higher up or further back, resting more calmly on the vegetation.

I only found one Black-tailed Skimmer, quite fresh, off the path by the side of the stream, perhaps as the paths were so well-traveled on this warm afternoon:

Barden Lake

Slow ramble around Barden Lake looking for birds, especially yearlings birds, and dragonflies.

The pair of Swans still had their seven cygnets, safe so far from pike and other predators.

Interesting link to a Guardian article on the species expansion. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/25/specieswatch-egyptian-goose-breeding-population

I think this is the closest I have ever actually been to a Red-eyed Damselfly, come to the shore in order to find a place to mate or lay eggs perhaps. I hadn't realised how fuzzy their thoraxes are! There is no sign of any ante-humeral stripes on the males of the Red-Eyed Damselfly, a useful separation feature. 

The male is in reasonable focus here.

This picture brings the female into focus a little better, noting the broken lines of the ante-humeral stripes, forming "exclamation marks", another useful separation feature, parallel to that for the male above.

I found one pair of White Legged Damselfly on the edge of the shallows.