Southern Hawkers showing well

My favourite site during early autumn is Fermyn Woods Country Park because the two ponds there - the Reedy Pond and the Big Pit are great places to watch Southern Hawkers. Between early September and mid October, numbers are about the best in the County. Here, the Southern Hawkers completely outnumber the other autumn species such as Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters. This afternoon (20/09), we took a walk around Fermyn which started off with good sunshine (the morning was really sunny), but soon descended into overcast conditions. I just had time to get these two in flight shots of a male on the Reedy Pond. Unfortunately, there were two fishermen on the stand on the Big Pit pond, so I wasn't able to get any shots from there but on the opposite stand I did find a female Migrant Hawker ovipositing into a piece of floating wood.

Earlier in the week, I visited the Greenway ditch at Irthlingborough and had good views of Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters including several ovipositing pairs of the latter. I haven't had too much luck with Darters this year, and haven't really achieved any successful shots of them. I also found a very old female infuscans form Blue-tailed Damselfly (thanks for the correction MT) and a single female Emerald Damselfly oviposting on the far bank. I have never noticed female Emeralds ovipositing alone before, but guess that this isn't unusual.

Last weekend, we walked around Irchester Country Park and visited the Big Foot Pond. I haven't been here for several years and it was great to see that the pond is still healthy and alive with dragons. Plenty of Common Darters were buzzing around the water and the woods were full with Migrant Hawkers and Southern Hawkers.

Watch out for Darters resting on fence posts at this time of year, absorbing as much  of the dwindling sunlight as they can.

Finally, Stuart Page reports finding two Banded Demoiselles around the Nene at Ditchford. I have not seen any for quite a while now, so this is a great late sighting.

Female Common Darter, Big Foot Pond at Irchester Country Park

Female Blue-tailed Damselfly (Infuscans colour form), Irthlingborough

Migrant Hawker, Irthlingborough

Migrant Hawker, Irthlingborough

Migrant Hawker, Irthlingborough

Southern Hawker, Reedy Pond at Fermyn Woods

Ovipositing Migrant Hawker, Big Pit Pond at Fermyn Woods

Migrant Hawker Madness

I had a great hour at lunchtime in amongst 50+ Migrant Hawkers at Ditchford. They were all over the place and performing well for the camera. The sun was shining and the adults were too!

Taking second place to the Migrants were one Brown Hawker that struggled to fly, several Common Darters and Common Blue Damselflies.

Hundreds of Migrants

Well, the Migrants are now taking over at our main gravel pits, rivers and lakes. While the weather remains changeable, the sunny spells are bringing them out in good numbers, although I am seeing more feeding off territory than searching for females on territory. At Ditchford on Sunday, only a handful of male Migrants were showing, and a single ovipositing female managed to avoid the few males that were present. A few Brown Hawkers, Common Darters and Common Blue Damselflies were also around. I managed some in-flight shots, although they never quite positioned themselves perfectly for me. In the next few weeks, as the weather improves (so we are promised), there should be more around giving better opportunities. I did try something a little different by shooting one in to the light, which gave a rather unusual viewpoint.

At Titchmarsh Nature Reserve, on Sunday pm, there were plenty of Migrants flying around the grassland areas between the Nene and the main lake, with only one male at territory on the river. I hunted for any last remaining Banded Demoiselles but could find none. Common Darters, Common Blue Damselflies and a single Southern Hawker were the only other species present.

Update and a visit to Whixall Moss, Staffs

I returned from holiday and back to work with no dragonflies seen for over 2 weeks. How did I survive? My first Migrant Hawkers of the year were in my back garden, during a family party, where I saw four at once, mixed males and females. At Ditchford, I struggled to find any territorial males in the overcast conditions, but this one (photo below) did hang around for a few minutes when the sun came out. Common Darters, Brown Hawkers and Common Blue Damselflies were also present.

At Irthlingborough, a few remaining Small Red-eyed Damselflies sat on the algae, along with Brown Hawkers ovipositing into the muddy banks, Common Darters and Emerald Damselflies. I found a drowned Brown Hawker, which I fished out with my monopod but it was dead on arrival, only to then see another alive which I also rescued. I guessed they had a tussell and ended up in the water. 

I took my daughter and a friend to the VFestival in Shropshire and took the opportunity to visit Whixall Moss, in Staffs only about 45minutes further north, looking for Common Hawker and Black Darters. I have not seen Common Hawker before, but a male Black Darter did appear in Northants in 2009. There were many Darters along the ferns on the trials and at the ponds I saw plenty of both species, including mating and ovipositing along with lots of Emerald Damselflies, a Brown Hawker, Common Darter and a single Common Blue Damselfly. The male Common Hawkers didn't let me get any inflight shots, so I concentrated on the ovipositing females. The male Black Darters were on the mature side and didn't show the beautiful colouration that I was hoping for, being mostly all black, however it is the females that really shone with their fantastic golden yellow and black colours. One unfortunate female had been grasped by a rare Raft Spider. The site is hard to find, but I may go again in June next year to see the White-faced Darters.



Ovipositing Brown Hawker, Irthlingborough



Drowned Brown Hawker



Surviving Brown Hawker



Migrant Hawker, Ditchford



Mating Black Darters



Ovipositing Common Hawker



Black Darter eaten by Raft Spider



Female Black Darter



Male Black Darter



Female Black Darter

A Late Large Red

I have visited a few sites in the last week or so hoping to find a Migrant Hawker with no success so far, however there are always plenty of other species to see of course.

The ditch at Irthlingborough continues to entertain and I was able to get a few shots of the Small Red-eyes in their mating wheel, something I haven't managed before. Normally Small Red-eyes perch some distance from the bank, but thus narrow ditch gives great close-up views. Small Red-eyes are a also present across the A45 in the Pocket park and on the large lake just over the footbridge, I managed my first shot of this species on land, another shot I haven't managed before. It looks like a good year for this species!.

Numbers of Ruddy Darters are building well along with Emerald Damselflies. I visited Cransley reservoir for the first time in several years and was pleased to see that both of these are still breeding there. I should have gone earlier to check that the Hairys were still present so will make a note for next year. This is a large reservoir and I estimated 5000+ Common Blues!

The Beautiful Demoiselle is again present on the Brampton Valley Way and Harleston Heath near the golf course where David Warner recorded 13 adults on a small section of stream. Graham Martin sent a photo of a female seen in Salcey Forest.

At Yardley Chase on Saturday, I saw a lonely Large Red and a single Downy Emerald, both good late dates for their respective species.

Keep an eye out for Migrants, there must be some around!

Mating Small Red-eyed Damselflies

Male Small Red-eyed Damselfly (on land!)

Female Emerald Damselfly

Female Ruddy Darter

Male Ruddy Darter

Female Ruddy Darter

Female Ruddy Darter

Old Male Four-spotted Chaser

Male Large red Damselfly

  

More Small Red-eyed Damslflies

I couldn't resist another trip to Irthlingborough on Friday to see more Small Red-eyed Damselflies. I brought along Tony from work too. There were plenty more about and we were lucky enough to find several pairs ovipositing. I hope that numbers increase over the next few weeks and will keep an eye on the population. In the air, the Emperor was showing well along with Four-spotted Chasers and Black-tailed Skimmers.

Two more species, still one to go.

The Greenway ditch at Irthlingborough is fast becoming this year's favourite site. Despite a slow start on my arrival, it ended up buzzing with 12 species. Two male Emperors hawked up and down, frequently harassed by a few Four-spotted Chasers. One of the males behaved nicely in front of my camera allowing a few good in flight shots. A couple of Brown Hawkers put in an appearance too, but didn't stay too long. I disturbed about 10 emergent Common Darters, but their flitting flight from perch to perch didn't allow any photos. I think they sensed I was stalking them, and as they are vulnerable to predation at this stage, they were keen to avoid being lunch. A single male Hairy scooted low down, with strong flight suggesting he has more life left in him which is good for 9 July. The latest I have seen Hairys is 14 July, which may be beaten this year. On the water's surface, plenty of Blue-tailed Damselflies were ovipositing, joined by a few pairs of Azures with Common Blues in the grasses. I spotted a single male Red-eye and hoped it was the Small Red-eye, but it was the "large" version, however I didn't have to wait long before I found the first of around 10 Small Red-eyes, which is earlier than usual as they normally appear after Migrant Hawkers. Black-tailed Skimmers buzzed around the muddy banks and an Emerald Damselfly flitted from reed to reed. No Broad-bodied Chasers appeared, which is a shame after the numbers seen in the preceding weeks. Still, 12 species for this ditch is a good score.

Rufescens-obsoleta form female Blue-tailed Damselfly ovipositing

Emerald Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Androchrome (male-like) form female Blue-tailed Damselfly ovipositing

Emperor

Emperor

Emperor

Small Red-eyed Damselfly