Emperor at Bucknell Woods, Towcester

Doug Goddard (Northants butterfly recorder) has seen this first Emperor of the year at Bucknell Woods near Towcester. This species normally emerges at the end of May/early June so is keeping up this year's schedule of 10-14 day advance on emergence.

Scarce Chasers emerging on the Nene

At last, some rain (although not much yet)! I took a walk along the Nene at Waddenhoe Mill and Lilford in search of Scarce Chaser this afternoon after the rain had cleared. At Waddenhoe I found 5 exuvia and one emergent female with crinkly wings. Also found exuviae of Banded Demoiselle of which there where ~100 adults present and 2 Hairy Dragonfly exuviae. I am always surprised to find Hairy exuvia on the Nene as this species prefers static water sites with plenty of dead plant material. At Lilford, I hoovered up 15 exuvia and found two emeregent adults. The photo above shows a male with right-hand wings stick together. The cool, rainy weather this morning is probably the cause.

Wicksteed Park

Darryl reports seeing the following at the Wicksteed Park Nature Trail fishing lake: Hairy Dragonfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly. This is a great dragonfly site and a pleasent walk away from the crowds at Wicksteeds.

Large Reds mating

I visited the River Ise near Harrowden this lunchtime. There were many Large Reds around including 4 pairs in tandem and mating. In total around 15 adults were seen. I stalked this pair until they landed in a convenient place for a photo.

Downy Emeralds emerging two weeks early

Large Red

Four-spotted Chaser

Emerging Downy Emerald

I visited Yardley Chase today in the hope of catching some emerging Four-spots or Hairys, and instead found 2 exuviae of Downy Emerald and one adult emerging. Due to the early time I visited (0830hrs), the 2 exuviae must have been from yesterday or earlier, which means that the recorded species total for April is 10 species, a new County Record (2007 = 8 species). This is a good two weeks early for the Downy and a sign of how special this spring has been for our dragonflies. I only hope the year doesn't progress like 2007, with a very wet summer. The Downy larva had climbed the trunk of a small tree overhanging the water. This is classic behaviour for this species, but one that I have not seen before. I now understand why the larva's legs are so long - to grasp around the tree trunk. The emerging adult was in the shade with a bright sunlit background, so I had to use fill-in flash - my new Canon 7D has a wireless flash function that really helped get the shots.

Also seen: Large Red, Blue-tailed, Four-spotted Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly.

A visit to Wilsons Pits during the Royal Wedding

I was so disappointed that the weather this morning wasn't up to much as I had big plans to go spotting instead of watching the Royal Wedding. By lunchtime, though, the sun was poking through so I stepped out to nearby Wilsons pits for an hour or so. Here, I saw 3 Hairy Dragonfly, 100+ Azure Damselflies, 30+ Red-eyed Damselflies, 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies and 5 Common Blue Damselflies.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Doug Goddard reports seeing this Broad-bodied Chaser at Yardley Chase. This is then a record for Northants with 9 species recorded before the end of April. I suspect there may be quite a gap until the next species emerges which is usually Downy Emerald.

Red-eyed Damselfly at Southfields Farm Marsh

I took a walk up to Southfields Farm Marsh this lunchtime, without the camera. It was sunny but with a cool breeze. I managed to see a Large Red and Banded Demoiselle on the River Ise and at the marsh, Azure Damselflies, Large Red, Blue-tailed and a single teneral Red-eyed Damselfly. This makes our total 8 species before the end of April, which is the same as the record year of 2007. It is possible that Broad-bodied Chaser may also be out somewhere, so keep those eyes peeled around small shallow ponds (especially garden ponds).

Azure Damselflies at Finedon

Doug Goddard reports seing Azure Damselflies and Large Red Damselflies at Finedon Country Park.

Banded Demoiselle on the Nene

On Easter Sunday, I took a walk around the main sailing lake at Thrapston and found 7 Banded Demoiselle, 1 Hairy and 1 Common Blue Damselfly.

Large Reds abd Blue-tails at Salcey Forest

Chris Emary reports both mating pairs of Large Reds and Blue-tailed Damselflies at Salcey Forest.

Mass Emergence of Hairy Dragonfly

Graham Bentley texted me tis morning about a mass emergence of Hairy Dragonfly at Ditchford. I dashed off immediately an met Graham there filming an adult. We counted 20+ adults and watched several take their maiden flight into the trees. While hunting for more, we saw 20-30 Common Blue Damselflies emerging and flying into the grasses.

While walking the Mother-in-Law's dog around Thrapston Lakes, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a recently emerged Banded Demoiselle taking its maiden flight.

More Dragonflies appear

With the hot weather still with us (and set to continue for a while), the Spring emerging dragonflies are starting to appear. In a normal year, only the Large Red Damselfly will have emerged so far. This year though, I have received the following extra records:

Graham Bentley reports a Four-Spotted Chaser at Fermyn Wodds Country Park on 21 April (see photo above).

Darryl Sutcliffe found a recently emergered Hairy Dragonfly at Stanwick Lakes on the same day.

The last good April ws in 2007, when we saw 8 species on the wing by the end of the month. With three so far, we are on track to meet this. Mind you, the remainder of 2007 was poor with severe floods over many parts of the UK, so I hope this spell of good weather doesn't signal the same event this year.

First Large Red Damselfly of the year

David Warner reports seeing the first Large Red Damselfly of the year at Storton's Pits. This is about a week earlier than normal, but not surprising considering the good weather recently.