White-legged Damselflies

Male

Immature female







I saw my first White-legged Damselflies today, on the River Ise between Finedon and Wellingborough. This is quite late for me as they normally emerge at the end of May / early June. Again, the weather is at fault. Of the estimated 75 presen there were very few blue males which does suggest that they have emerged late nd have been slow to mature because. Still, they are quit noticeable as the females are a very creamy white. There were many recently emerged adults too. Also present were Large Reds, Azure, Common Blue, Blue-tails and Banded Demoiselle.

Recent Sightings

The weather has calmed down a bit recently (we are so obsessed with the weather us dragonfly spotters aren't we!), allowing a few trips out. On 19 June at Ditchford I saw the year's Brown Hawker take its maiden flight, along with Emperors, Four-spotted Chaser and the usual damelflies. At Yardley Chase, on my return from a Business trip to MK, I captured this Downy Emerald among about 10 buzzing around the pond. This is my first in flight shot of the year. The second shot shows a pair of mating Blue-tailed Damselflies at Ditchford. The female is of the rufescens-obsoleta colour form.

New sightings

Terry Wood reports the first Southern Hawker at Glapthorn Cow pastures NR and Doug Goddard reports Beautiful Demoiselle at Yardley Chase - some distance from its nearest (known) colony.

Broad-bodied Chasers at Finedon Pocket Park

I took a chance at lunchtime today and headed to Finedon Pocket Park and was rewarded by a break in the clouds that let warm sunshine through for an hour or two. About 10 mins after I got there, this male Broad-bodied Chaser appeared and began to fly around the pond margins, resting at a few regular spots. This is my first BBC of the year. Also present were Azure, Blue-tailed and Large Red Damselflies.

White-legged Damselflies

White-legged Damselfly

Chris reports the first White-legged Damselfies on the River Nene at Upton Mill on 10 June.

Black-tailed Skimmers, Scarce Chasers & Banded Demoiselle at Stanwick Lakes

Female Banded Demoiselle

Black-tailed Skimmer

Emerging Black-tailed Skimmer

Female Scarce Chaser







We took a walk around Stanwick Lakes on Sunday afternoon, where there were 100s of Common Blues, Blue-tailed & Red-eyed Damselflies including many recent emergents. I managed to disturb a few recently emerged Black-tailed Skimmers too, including the one above that hadn't fully completed emergence. Interestingly, this one had left the water, climbed up the bank, traversed the footpath and found this very precareious dead stem to emerge onto. This was a walk of some 10m and would have meant the larva walked straight passed many suitable emergence supports. Around the Nene by the footbridge, were ~1000 Banded Demoiselle, probably the highest numbers I have seen all year. I also disturbed this recently emerged female Scarce Chaser. I discovered the colony here a couple of years ago, but this is the first proof that they are breeding at Stanwick Lakes.

Variable Damselflies

Azure Damselfly

Male Variable Damselfly

Variable Damselfly tandem pair

I made a visit to Maxey Pits this morning in search of Variable Damselflies. Amoung the many Azures present, there were about 20 Variables including mating pairs and ovipositing pairs. The weather cycled from warm sunshine to deep clouds, which made activity vgery sporadic. Other species seen: Red-eye, Large Red, Blue-tail, Common Blue, Four-spotted Chaser and Hairy Dragonfly.

Emperors

Graham Bentley reports two Emperor exiviae and a flying adult near Yarwell on 3 June.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Chris reports the first Beautiful Demoiselles on the River Tove a Greens Norton.

Finedon Pocket Park

I've been visiting the Pocket Park at Finedon every week since the beginning of the season (and for several weeks before hand). In March, the pond dried out during the drought, and then filled to overflowing during the April & May rains. My fears were that the dry pond had lead to the demise of the larvae especially as all my visits including the last visited on 24 May and saw no activity. Today, I visited again expecting to see nothing but was stunned by the change. The water was buzzing with ovipositing Azure Damselflies, probably 40+ individuals. One Four-spotted Chaser was perched watching its territory until a female came along and they promptly mated and ovipositing ensued. Searching around the pond, I found Common Blues, Blue-tails and Large Reds as well as a single male Hairy Dragonfly hunting along the hedges - a first for this site. So, my concerns were unfounded and the drying of the pond, other than delaying activity, appears to have had no long term affect on the odonata at this site.

White-faced Darters (NOT in Northants)

I took a break from recording in Northants and visited Chartley Moss in Staffordshire today (26 May) to see the White-faced Darter. This site is an amazing floating bog, where the sphagnum moss sits atop 10m deep water - quite scary when you feel the ground wobble under foot. The visit was well timed to see them emerging, and we counted over 40 immatures and emerging adults. A few mature adults were seen too, but not too many. Of the three photos above, the top and bottom show immature males - the yellow changes to red when they reach maturity, and the middle shows a female. A great day out and a new species for me. This trip was organised by Natural England and is well worth booking on for next year (its ony 1hr 45mins drive away).

Scarce Chasers at Waddenhoe

Scarce Chaser

Female Banded Demoiselle eating a Mayfly.






Male Banded Demoiselle








At lunchtime on 25 May, I visited The Nene at Waddenhoe. It was quite breezy but this didn't stop 100+ Banded Demoiselle fluttering along the margins of the river. A male Hairy was patrolling the river and a female had just completed her emergence. The highlight was seeing up to 40 Scarce Chaser take their maiden flight and promptly land low down on the grasses in the field. There were many recently hatched Mayfly around too, providing good food for the Banded Demoiselles.

Three New species

Broad-bodied Chaser

Downy Emerald

Doug had a good day today at Yardley Chase, with two emerging Downy Emeralds, some Four-spotted Chasers and a Broad-bodied Chaser. (Photos above courtesy of Doug).

Azure Damselflies at Wilsons Pits

Wilsons Pits, near Rushden is well known for its large numers of Azure Damselflies durimg May, today I managed 5, not nearly as many as expected and another sign that the poor weather is impacting on numbers - whether there will be a catch up in a week or so remains to be seen. The shots above show two immature males.