Friday, 6 May 2016

Hairys and Blue-tailed Damselflies

I took a trip to Ditchford Lakes and Meadows this lunchtime with warm but cloudy conditions. Searching through the emergent plants I spotted a damselfly exuvia. It was too far away to collect so I zoomed in on it with my camera for a few photos to try for an ID. The caudal lamellae showed that it was a Blue-tailed Damselfly, the adult of which was no where to be found. I found no more damselfly exuvia, but did find two emerging Hairy Dragonflies and two more exuviae. Interestingly, all were female. I watched both take their maiden flights, and managed to capture one before flying and the other as it landed on a tree not far from the water. This weekend looks promising with strong sunshine and high temps, so I expect Common Blues, Red-eyes and Azures to appear.