End of August update

Not great weather recently, so limited opportunities to get out dragonfly spotting. Still, today was good, so at the end of a shopping trip to Riverside Retail Park on the A45 near Northampton, I popped to the Abingdon Meadow pond. Many Migrant Hawkers were flying in the fields and a few at territory, along with a couple of Brown Hawkers. Common Darters were also present including an ovipositing pair. Of more interest were the 20 or so Small Red-eyed Damselflies, that are a regular sight here. Unfortunately, the pond margins are becoming too overgrown and soon there won't be any viewing gaps left.

We took a walk around Summer Leys in the afternoon, and were joined by 100+ Migrant Hawkers along the paths, feeding in the hedgerows. I always enjoy seeing Migrants swarming in the late summer sun. A few Brown Hawkers were present and some Common Darters and a single Ruddy Darter. Damselfly-wise, we only saw a few Common Blues including several in-cop.

Female Common Darter

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker

Male Common Darter

Male Ruddy Darter

  

Migrant Hawkers start their take-over

Ditchford was buzzing with Migrant Hawkers this morning, and I guess there were around 80 males and at least 3 mating pairs. Activity was good in the sunny periods which also produced a single Emperor, many Common Blues and Blue-tails and a couple of Common Darters. A surprise was a single female Emerald Damselfly. This species is a regular visitor here, but doesn't breed.

End of July Update

As summer reaches its peak, we are just about at that time where the number of species has reached a maximum.

At Irthlingborough Lakes on Saturday 26 July, there were plenty of Black-tailed Skimmers, Ruddy Darters, Brown Hawkers, the usual damselflies and a few Emperors. I didn't see any adults, but found many Migrant Hawker exuviae although I have had a few adults buzzing around my garden.

At Tywell, Broad-bodied Chasers are still in evidence with a few Ruddy Darters and Emerald Damselflies.

The River Ise still has good numbers of White-legged Damselflies, both at Burton Latimer Pocket Park and the bridge at Harrowden. Many pairs ovipositing and in-cop at both sites. At the pocket park were also many Common Darters, Brown Hawkers, and Banded Demoiselle.

Ruddy Darter at Irthlingborough Lakes

Black-tailed Skimmer at Irthlingborough Lakes

Tandem White-legged Damselflies on the River Ise

Mating White-legged Damselflies

Male White-legged Damselfly

Broad-bodied Chaser at Twywell Hills & Dales

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.