Small Red-eyed Damselflies

Well, the last of our breeding species, the Small Red-eyed Damselfly, has now appeared, with 50-100 present at Higham Ferrers pocket park and across the A45 bridge into the reserve. This site is also great for Brown Hawkers at this time of the year, and I saw about 50! Plenty of Banded Demoiselles were on the river and a few Ruddy Darters were present too.

John Windust reports Scarce Chasers still present on Harpers Brook at Titchmarsh Nature Reserve.

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Rd-eyed Damselfly

Female Scarce Chaser, Titchmarsh Nature Reserve (John Windust)

Ditchford Lakes in 30 degree temperatures

The hottest day of the year so far made dragonfly hunting at lunchtime quite an uncomfortable affair. The high temperatures did seem to suppress activity, with fewer adults than would be expected. One male and an ovipositing Emperor were around, along with many Brown Hawkers including an ovipositing female. Most of these I disturbed from hiding in the undergrowth. Many Common Blues, Red-eyes and Blue-tails as well as a couple each of Common and Ruddy Darters and a single Four-spotted Chaser. There were plenty of Migrant Hawker exuviae and am adult taking its maiden flight. How it survived the torrential rain and thunder this morning, I'll never know.

Ruddy Darter

Red-eyed Damselfly

Ovipositing Brown Hawker

Common Blue Damselflies

Black-tailed Skimmers

In blazing sunshine and 27 degree temperatures, I headed off the Old Sulehay quarry hunting Red-veined Darters. None were around, so I guess that is it for this species this year. There were loads of Black-tailed Skimmers around, a few Emperors including two mating pairs, a few Brown Hawkers and Broad-bodied Chasers. Activity was less than expected, because it can actually get too hot sometimes. I detoured home via Paxton Pits hoping to see the Norfolk Hawkers, but none were present on their usual lake.

Scarce Chasers

We had a team building walk around Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon, completing the full circuit of 7.5 miles in about 2.5 hours. Only saw Common Blue Damselflies. After the walk, on my way home I stopped off at Wadenhoe to catch some other species. There were still plenty of Scarce Chasers around, including two mating pairs. They were looking quite tatty which isn't surprising as they are coming to the end of their season. Also, several Brown Hawkers and hundreds of Banded Demoiselles.

Maxey Pits and elsewhere

I took the long(ish) drive to Maxey at the weekend, hoping to find some Red-veined Darters. While it was a bit windy, there were plenty of Black-tailed Skimmers along the footpath by the newer gravel workings and I came across my first two Common Darters of the year. In the fishing pits, there were still a few Variable Damselflies left, including a couple of ovipositing pairs. This is the latest they have been seen in our area. A couple of Ruddy Darters were sunning themselves on the ground. Along Maxey Cut, were many Banded Demoiselle and surprisingly 8 Brown Hawkers and two ovipositing Emperors. No Red-veined Darters though. I'll look elsewhere, although I don't know of too many sightings other than down south so there may not be a major influx this year.

John Windust has been out and about and recorded Southern Hawkers at Fermyn Woods, Ruddy Darters and several ovipositing Emperors.

Terry Wood visited Lyveden New Bield and recorded many Black-tailed Skimmers, Emperors, Four-spotted Chasers and the usual damselflies.

Ovipositing Emperors at Stanwick Lakes (John Windust)

Southern Hawker at Fermyn Woods (John Windust)

Azure Damselfly

Variable Damselfly at Maxey Pits

Ruddy Darter at Maxey Pits

As June gives way to July

As we enter July, we begin to lose some of the Spring species and see the Summer species become dominant. Four-spotted Chasers and Broad-bodied Chasers are starting to look tatty, especially this male from Twywell!

Darryl Sutcliffe reports the first Common Darter, near Cottesbrooke and Alison Lowe saw the first Emerald Damselfly at Sulby.

At Twywell, Ruddy Darters have begun emerge too.

Tatty male



Pristine male

Teneral male Ruddy Darter

Beautiful Demoiselles

I took my regular visit to the River Tove on Sunday, before the British Grand Prix closes the area down!. There were around 30 Beautiful Demoiselle flitting around the river at Greens Norton, which is my favourite site for them. This species is doing well this year, with records coming in from Darryl Sutcliffe at several sites along the Brampton Valley Way; from Alison Lowe at Sulby (tantalisingly close to the River Welland) and from various streams near the Nene at Stortons Pits. The sightings near the Welland at Husbands Bosworth (which is in Leics) are very promising for expansion into Leicestershire, and I await feedback from Ian Merrill the Leics recorder to see if they have turned up there.

Female

Scarce Chasers and an ovipositing Emperor

I stopped off at Wadenhoe to catch some Scarce Chasers, and there were plenty of males around, and one old looking female. Hundreds of Banded Demoiselles were in the marginal reeds. While photographing a male Chaser, this female Emperor conveniently landed just in front of me, and began to oviposit into a lily stem. I thought the reflection was great and really helped make the picture.

More Hawkers and the first Darter

Emperors are now a common sight across our ponds and lakes, with adults seen at Tywell, Ditchford and Yardley Chase. At Ditchford, I found loads of Emperor Exuviae and one recently emerged female who had died after completing emergence. I thought at first she was waiting to fly, but on closer inspection I could see fluid dripping from her abdomen. After nudging a few times, I realised she was dead. There were several males hawking across their territories, and I managed a few decent in flight shots. A handful of Brown Hawker exuviae were also present.

At Ditchford there were many blue form female Common Blue Damselflies in amoung the thousands of  males. This colour form is rare in the early spring, but seems to become more common as the season progresses. The usual form is the pale yellow-brown. Common Blues have two phases of emergence, in early spring for larvae that are two years old and then mid summer for last year's larvae and I have often wondered if this contributes to the different numbers? Here is a sot I have been trying to get for a while now, showing both male and blue form female mating.

At Yardley Chase on Tuesday I found many Southern Hawker exuviae but no adults. Downy Emeralds were showing well.

The Whitestones Ponds at Twywell were buzzing with Broad-bodied Chasers, with over 12 adults across the three ponds. A couple of females appeared, were promptly mated and began ovipositing. They always seem to do it in photographically poor spots though!

John Windust reports the first Ruddy Darter at Summer Leys on 12 June.

Downy Emeralds and Black-tailed Skimmers

I took a walk around Stanwick Lakes on Sunday morning as the sun was gloriously bright and warm. I was amazed at the number of Common Blue Damselflies emerging and the total I saw must have exceed 3000. This was quite a sight! I was searching for Black-tailed Skimmers and disturbed about 15 taking their maiden flights. The adults weren't that helpful and didn't stay around too long, except two individuals who allowed me a close approach. Also, many Red-eyed Damselflies, Blue-tailed Damselflies and Four-spotted Chasers. On the river, hundreds of Banded Demoiselles were flitting about, but unfortunately, I didn't see any Scarce Chasers.

At Yardley Chase, I managed my first in flight shots of the year, of Downy Emeralds.

Variable Damselflies, Banded Demoiselles and Scarce Chasers

I made my regular trip to Maxey Pits on Sunday, to see the Variable Damselflies. There were over 30 present with many pairs ovipositing. Unfortunately, the sun is at the wrong angle for decent photographs in the morning, but I managed a decent record shot. For photography, this site is best visited in the afternoon. Also present were many Azures, Blue-tailed Damselflies and Four-spotted Chasers including two ovipositing. A couple of Hairys flew around too. 

I moved on to Wadenhoe, where I was astonished by the number of Banded Demoiselles. There must have been 1000+, in fact so many that they were sharing territories. Scarce Chasers were, as their name suggests scarce, with only 5 in evidence, including two that looked like they'd emerged that morning. Apart from a few Red-eyed Damselflies on the lily pads, there were no other species in evidence, or was I overwhelmed by the number of Demoiselles?

Male Variable Damselfly

Male Banded Demoiselle



Immature Male Scarce Chaser

Male Scarce Chaser

Common Club-tails on the Thames at Goring

I've been meaning to visit the Thames at Goring for a number of years, but have been unable to make the time. This year, the Mother-in-law was staying with her sister at Chinnor, so I volunteered to collect her, oh and pop into Goring on the way - well, with a slight detour anyway. Once at the site by the railway bridge, I promptly found my first exuvia. I spent about 2.5 hours looking for adults without any luck and decided to go back to bridge for lunch. I bumped into three others also searching, and while chatting one of them spotted this teneral at exactly the spot I started my search. He must have emerged while I was off searching! How disappointing. Well, I did get to see one - my first, so it wasn't a waste of time. And, I located three more exuviae too. There is a record of this species from the River Nene near Wansford from 1951, and I have been keen to understand whether the Nene ever held a breeding colony - if it can support Scarce Chaser and White-legged Damselflies, why not Club-tails? I have searched the Nene several times, without success, but this is an elusive species where hundreds can emerge and only a few adults ever seen, so it may still be here undiscovered.