A bit of movement

Doug Goddard reports finding emerging Common Blues at Summer Leys, so I expect the Hairys have begun to appear there too. I understand from others that Hobbies are now regularly seen regularly at Summer Leys, presumably on the expectation of feasting on the dragonflies. I have never seen a Hobby catch a dragonfly so I hope to capture one on-camera this year.

Elsewhere at Fermyn Woods, Roland Bogush found some recently emerged Large Red Damselflies.

At Ditchford, I have yet to see an emerging Hairy, but I did find two more exuviae. Only two though, which quite surprised me as I was expecting more. Anyway, I did find a teneral female Azure Damselfly and many Red-eyes in amoungst the Common Blues. Numbers here are still low but building well. A good period of settled weather should see more emergence. A good spot to see these immature Damselflies is the meadow at the back of the main lake, just before the second lake, where you can see the building works for the new Rushden Lakes shopping centre. Damselflies use the grasses to mature and many immatures can be seen flying around this area. I am sure there are some Blue-tailed Damselflies here, but I have yet to ID any.

Don't forget the Northants Dragonflies group on facebook, where you can post your photos and sightings.

Here's an arty picture of a Common Blue and a close-up of a Red-eyed Damselfly.

Immature Red-eyed Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly