Wilson's Pits

A good hot day, ideal for dragonfly activity. At Wilson's Pits there were high numbers oviposting Common Blues, Red-eyes and Black-tailed Skimmer. The Red-eye above found himself a nice territory, only to repeatedly be hassled by jealous Common Blues.

Yardley Chase MOD Section

The MOD held an open day at the Yardley Chase training section. I wasn't able to go, but Doug, Bob and Jeff attended. All reported seeing Downy Emerald and a Beautiful Demoislle. Doug sent on this photo. This is the furthest east for this species so far. How long will it be before thy reach the River Ise, where there is plenty of suitable breeding habitat?

River Nene at Thrapston

We took a walk along the Nene at Thrapston. It was quite windy, but nice and sunny and the dragons were still around. We saw several Scarce Chaser, including the one above showing mating scars. Also large numbers of Banded Demoiselle and still a few Large Red Damselflies.

Brown Hawkers and Scarce Chaser

On a windy day, I came across my first emerging Brown Hawker at Ditchford. One emergee had damaged wings and another emerged right into a spider's nest and was sucked dry by the time I found it. Also several Black-tailed Skimmer (always good to see here as they are declining somewhat), Hairys and the usual Damselflies.

Mark Piper and Nick Roberts report seeing a Scarce Chaser on the River Nene at Harpole Mill. This is the furthest west on the Nene that Scarce Chaser have been recorded. There was a sighting 2.5km east of here last year, so I am left wondering if there may be a small colony nearby. It's certainly a fair way to fly from the usual sites near Thrapston.

Southern Hawkers

Bob Bullock sent in this year's first record of Southern Hawker, seen on 6 June.

Scarce Chasers at the old National Dragonfly Museum site

I took a walk along the footpath by the Nene from the Old Mill to the weir. This is the site of the former National Dragonfly Biomuseum, until around 2003 when Ruary and the team moved out. At this time, Scarce Chaser were not known in the County and certainly not here. Today, we counted in excess of 100 maturing males clashing over the water between the Old Mill and the Weir. Also, many Hairy Dragonlfly and the usual damselflies.

Four-spotted Chaser in flight

There were a few Four-spotted Chaser buzzing around Ditchford this lunchtime, and I managed this shot before my camera buffer ran out (I must invest in that new £3500 Canon 1D Mk IV!). Still, it shows the power of this insect in flight, and is a shot I am very pleased with. Also seen were 1000+ damselflies (all usual types), many Hairy Dragonflies and several Emperor exuviae.

Broad-bodied Chasers at Tywell Hills & Dales

The Whitestone ponds at Tywell Hills & Dales reserve are temporary ponds that frequently dry out in summer - they are essentially clay-filled holes that collect rain water. Every year though, they seem to be home to breeding Broad-bodied Chaser. I popped there this lunchtime and was lucky enough to see a male at territory capture and mate with a passing female. She went on to ovipost into a clump of what looks like hornwort. My photos aren't great as my camera couldn't keep up with the speed of her movement. I usually shoot in RAW, but my camera buffers-out after 15 shots, so I had to change to jpg to get 99 continuous shots and capture some of the action.

Scarce Chasers maturing

The high winds today made dragonfly activity fairly low, so we went geocaching around the Achurch / Waddenhoe area (there are two caches around this here). We walked from Waddenhoe to Achurch and along to Lilford. Between Achurch and Lilford, there is a sunny ride betwen the trees, and there we found 50-100 Scarce Chaser enjoying the sunshine. The trees shielded the path from the wind and it was definately a sun trip. Most of the Chasers were orange and a few of the males were showing signs of blue pruinescence.

First Emperor of the Year at Summer Leys

Doug Goddard reporst seeing this year's first Emperor, a recent emergent sheltering from today's high winds. Doug also recorded this Reed Bunting with a beak full of Damselflies to feed young.

Beautiful Demoiselle on the River Tove

Towcester's Beautiful Demoiselles have begun to appear on the River Tove, Northampton Road. Chris Emary found a few here as well as on the Tove at Greens Norton.

Black-tailed Skimmers emerging at Upton

Darryl Sutcliffe has visited the pond at Upton where the Red-veined Darters were seen last year. There was no sign of any emergees (did the larvae survive our extremely cold winter?). He did find several recently emerged Broad-bodied Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer at the Pineham end. Darryl's photos are posted above.

Emergence on the River Ise

I popped down to the Ise between Finedon and Wellingborough and found 2 White-legged Damselflies emerging and a number of Banded Demoiselle too. Not quite the mass emergence seen by Jim at Waddenhoe, but a good date for White-legs.

Mass Scarce Chaser emergence

The stunning weekend weather prompted a mass emergence of Scarce Chaser on the River Nene at Waddenhoe. Jim Dunkley visited on 24 May and saw so many emerging, he lost count! Scarce Chaser are known for their mass emergence, and this is a good example, probably helped by the previously chilly weather turnng very hot. A similar emergence was recorded at Woddwalton Fenn (Cambs) over the weekend.