Cosmeston Lakes - August 2007

Photo Gallery:

Common Darter

Emperor Dragonfly

We were in South Wales for a long weekend recently, the weather was gorgeous and we decided to visit Cosmeston Lakes near Penarth which was formerly a Limestone Quarry and is now a country park.

There was plenty of insect life enjoying the sun, including a number of dragonflies patrolling their territory (and fighting over it), there were several large Emporer Dragonflies (Anax imperator) over one pond and I finally managed to get a reasonable shot of a dragonfly in flight (after a number of less successful attempts last year). I used a Canon 100-400mm lens resting on a fence post for a bit of stability and manually focussed whenever the Dragonfly hovered for a while, it took quite a few goes but I eventually got one that I was happy with.

I also had my macro lens and stumbled across a female Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum), I only managed to get a couple of shots before a rather excitable and shaggy dog came to see what I was up to and disturbed it.

I'd certainly like to go back there if I was ever in the area again, probably a bit earlier in the day as most of the insects were rather too active. It was a very pleasant place for a walk all the same so the photos are really just a bonus.