Variable Damselflies

James Underwood reported finding a colony of Variable Damselflies at Wicksteed Park on 20 May, posting photo of males and mating pairs on our facebook group. The colony appears to be well established, but very localised on the fishing lake at the back of the park. I visited the following day, which was quite breezy and managed to find several males and ovipositing pairs on the lily pad leaves.

James also found a male Variable at Barnwell CP, and I found more at Weldon, confirming that last year's adults successfully bred there. Keep your eyes peeled, and inspect all of those Variables you see just in case.

The Willow Emerald pond at Finedon is all but dried up now, and all of the egg scars appear to have hatched. I don't know what impact this will have on the larvae, so we'll have to wait until late July - August to see what happens. Let's hope we get some good rain in the coming week. Despite that, I found several Broad-bodied Chasers buzzing around the pond including an ovipositing female, and this obliging maturing male on the ride. You may recognise the sapling he s perched on because I shot a Common Darter on the same one last Autumn.

On the Nene, Scarce Chasers are doing well, with many more emerging at Lilford and Waddenhoe - my two constant study sites. A report by Andy Gardner showed photos of immatures Scarce Chasers on the Nene parallel with the A45 at Irthlingborough Lakes. This is the first time that immatures have been seen here and implies successful breeding. Great to see that they are still inching their way towards Northampton.

Female Scarce Chaser just before her maiden flight, Lilford

Male Variable Damselfly attempting to mate with a female, Wicksteed Park

Male Variable Damselfly, Wicksteed Park

Ovipositing pair of Variables (right), Wicksteed Park

Maturing male Broad-bodied Chaser, Finedon Pocket Park

Three new species in mid May

Quite a week this week, as the weather got better with three new species seen around the County.

Four Scarce Chasers were seen by James Underwood at Barnwell Country Park, along with many Banded Demoiselles, Hairys and the usual damselflies. My early morning trip to the Nene on the 14th failed to find any emerging Chasers, and as it happens I was one day out. I returned on 6th and found three Scarce Chaser exuviae and 1 just about to emerge as I had to leave for work.

James has been very lucky this year with his first sightings, and to add to his record, he photographed White-legged Damselflies on the brook at Weldon. This is about 2 weeks earlier than normal.

I picked up a photo on the Northamptonshire Nature facebook page of an immature male Beautiful Demoiselle, seen near Duston in Northampton. Time to check the Brampton Valley Way next week.

I photographed Large Reds emerging many times, but this I have struggled to find any. However, I haven't before photographed another damselfly until this week, when I found this Azure just about to hatch.  

A quick walk along the Nene by Thrapston Sailing Club showed 2 Scarce Chasers, including the male shown below which has already lost part of his wing and numerous Banded Demoiselles and Red-eyed Damselflies.

Male Scarce Chaser at Thrapston

Broad-bodied Chasers

A photo was posted on our facebook group by Ricky Sinfield, of a Broad-bodied Chaser at Summer Leys on 12 May, and then Roland saw one at Barnwell and I found a freshly emerged adult at Finedon, along with 3 exuviae. In all my years visiting Finedon, I have never found exuviae there before today.

Hairy Dragonfly Emerging

I was surprised about how little action there was today, considering the break in the weather. I hunted around and came across this female Hairy Dragonfly settled in place to emerge. The whole event took around 2.5 hours and it was great to watch in the warm sun.

On the way out, I came across this newly emerged Four-spotted Chaser, which is the first of the year.

A walk around Kinewell Lake

The spell of wet and windy weather is now over and as we move into high pressure we took a walk around Kinewell Lake in Ringstead. The sunshine allowed >500 Common Blue, Red-eyed and Blue-tailed Damselflies to bask in its warmth, along with around 10 Banded Demoiselle. I found a male Hairy Dragonfly close to the river, with his wings still closed. Thanks to Graham Bentley, a Northants dragonfly enthusiast we know that this species takes its first flight and then lands up and closes its wings again, presumably to avoid predation. My first Azure Damselfly completed the set of 5 species.

Immature male Red-eyed Damselfly

Immature female Azure Damselfly

Immature female Common Blue Damselfly

Close-up of the above Common Blue

Actually 6 Species in April

I received an email from John Windust. who saw and photographed Common Blue Damselflies at Stanwick Lakes on 30 April, at around the same time I saw a couple at Ditchford Lakes. That makes 6 species for April.

Elsewhere, Common Blues and Hairys have been reported from Summer Leys and Banded Demoiselles from the Nene at Kinewell Lake in Ringstead.

Here are a couple of Female Hairy Dragonflies that I found emerging at Ditchford. on 30 April.