Willow Emerald egg scars at Barnwell Country Park

Judy & Terry Wood saw a few Darters at Barnwell over the weekend and also found these Willow Emerald egg scars close to where James Underwood found adults earlier in October. As autumn leads to winter, the loss of leaves should reveal more hidden egg scars so it is worth keeping an eye out just in case.

Darters on Posts

We still have strong numbers of Common Darters around the County, with records from Woodford, Wilson's Pits, Stanwick Lakes, Weldon and Summer Leys to name a few. At Summer Leys today, I counted 40+ basking on the fence posts around the car park. If you scale this up for the whole reserve, there could be several hundred left.

End of the Willow Season and some early November Darters

With three visits to Finedon since 25 Oct and no more Willows, I guess their season is over. This is the last male I saw on 25th (and the first one not in a tree), 
and he looks in good nick so may be the frost got to him. Anyway, the eggs are protected for next year and I have found scars in all of the willow trees so we 
should be OK for 2019. 

I had an email from Froglife asking for confirmation of egg scars they found at a pond they were clearing in Cambs, so it's great to know I have saved them as well! 
Here are my first November Darters at Finedon. I'm sure they'll last a bit longer although I think December is looking unlikely.