In my quest to see all the regularly breeding Hampshire dragonflies in 2025, one of the most tricky species was going to be Brilliant Emerald with only one site where the species was reported in Hampshire in 2024 on iRecord. So on 19th June I parked in the church carpark at 51.342116, -0.881581 and slogged south to the pond at 51.322250, -0.885302. Fortunately, within 30 minutes or so of arriving a had located a couple of Brilliant Emerald in the east of the pond with Downy Emerald and then eventually pinned down a more obliging male patrolling a territory in the west of the pond. This was a fantastic odonata site with other highlights being Brown Hawker, Large Red-eyed Damselfly, Gold-ringed Dragonfly and many Four-spotted Chaser. The walk back was far harder than the walk down, with an uphill slope and 26c heat and blazing sun, it was good to get back to the car and turn up the air conditioning!
