and that brings up the 50 for England...

Time for a dragonfly 'clean-up' today, with a 360 km route down into the south-east corner of Skåne to cosh off four species. Just outside Munka Ljungby I had a feeding white stork, which remained the bird of the day. The weather report was favourable, although my first site of the morning (the Ronneå at Billinge) was hit by a sharp downpour just as I arrived. Plenty of Calopteryx splendens and Platycnemis dodging the rain but no sign of any flying Libellula fulva, my target species. I worked the nearby trees hoping to find hooked-up adults but with no luck, then I walked the river-bank hoping for an emerging individual and found a fresh female. It climbed onto my finger and slowly spread it's wings before heading off on it's maiden flight.

My first Swedish Libellula fulva, it has been sometime since I last saw this species.

Next site was The water treatment ponds at Vomb. I had to be disciplined here because the area is monster for birds. Leaving the car a goshawk crossed the track, with an entourage of angry crows. Walking south through the ponds I was searching for just one species, Aeshna isoceles (the Norfolk hawker), another omission on my Swedish dragonfly list. Species diversity improved the further south I went and after about a kilometre I came to a U-shaped pool, here I had my first Anax imperator of the year and then shortly after that my first Swedish isoceles patrolling a tiny territory in the corner. These dragonflies really glow, a vision of ginger and green. No sign of any water-soldier (Stratiotes aloides) though, a plant this species is normally associated with. A Gomphus vulgatissimus here looked out of place. Walking back a red kite successfully scopped up my first coot chick of the year.

Thrashing on I headed for a small wetland near Fågeltofta that produces huge numbers of Lestes dryas. The hardest thing about seeing this species was negotiating the barbed wire fence! Once down in the basin, the Juncus was heaving with dryas. Things were going well.

The business end of a male dryas.

Nice to get a Lestes on the year-list - species number 49 on my Swedish list.

Libellula depressa were present at several of the sites looked at today.

Last stop was a blatant twitch but how could I ignore the presence of four Sympetrum fonscolombii at Simrishamn having got so close! This site is coastal and very compact and it did not take me long to find the fonscolombii, a huge rarity in Sweden. It was surprisingly difficult to count them though, but I think there were two patrolling males and then at one point a pair in tandem egg-laying. This female is the only one ever recorded in Sweden and was first seen yesterday.

Peripheral colonies of fonscolombii are prone to instability but this species may establish itself at Simrishamn. Exciting stuff and number 50 on the list too.

The pool at Simrishamn, shame it is 170 km from my house!

On the way home I stopped off again at the Ronneå at Billinge. This time it was warm and dry and the river was packed with Libellula fulva. A 200 metre walk upstream produced at least 30 males, four pairs in the wheel and one egg-laying female. Gomphus vulgatissimus were evident too with at least 15 patrolling males along this stretch. A great end to the day.

Female fulva.

Male fulva.

Another male Gomphus vulgatissimus photo, sorry but I like them.