Hawkers and Darters

I saw my first Brown Hawker on Sunday, along the River Nene at Ringstead. This is about two weeks later than usual for me, although they probably emerged on schedule. The river was full of Scarce Chasers, and with Darryl Sutcliffe's sightings along the Nene at Thorpe Waterville, must make several hundred seen over this stretch of the river - quite amazing for early July when this species are on the decline. At Wadenoe today, there were good numbers too including a couple of mating pairs, Brown Hawkers and Emperors including an ovipositing female.

During a lunchtime walk along the River Ise at Burton Latimer, I saw my first Common Darter, which just leaves Emerald Damselflies and Migrant Hawkers to go!

Mating Scarce Chasers at Wadenhoe

Things are still quiet out there in dragonfly land, although they are still going about their business in the short periods of sunny weather we are seeing. I had a bit if a Scarce Chaser hunt on Sunday, after a visit to Wadenhoe last Friday where I found 40+ Scarce Chasers, many males with mating scars so they have been active despite the weather. Dragonflies have survived 100s' of million years so a period of poor weather shouldn't affect them too much. At Stanwick Lakes, I found 20 Scarce Chasers on the navigable section of the Nene at the back of the reserve. Emperors are appearing at territory now, with adults seen at Wadenhoe and Stanwick. I am hopeful that the Nene at Summer Leys will at some point host these Chasers, but on Sunday I could find none in amoung the thousands of Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselflies, Red-eyes and a few Emperors. I enjoyed watching an ovipositing pair of Red-eyes, where they both completely submerged while the female laid her eggs safely inside the floating plants. The eventually emerged and flew off a few minutes later.

Mark Piper reports the first Ruddy Darter at Stanford Reservoir on 25th, and Doug Goddard spotted the first Southern Hawker at Salcey Forest on 26th.

Today I returned to the Greenway at Irthlingborough hoping to find more Variable Damselflies. I found none, but did spot a male Small Red-eyed Damselfly. I found a good population here last year.

Old female Scarce Chaser

Old female Scarce Chaser

Black-tailed Skimmer

Four-spotted Chaser

Variable Damselfly at Irthlingborough Lakes

Dragonflies have been very thin on the ground recently, due in no small part to the poor weather. The only species reported in the last week is the Black-tailed Skimmer. I took a walk around the pits surrounding the Visitor Center at Stanwick Lakes on Sunday hoping to find some Skimmers emerging. I did find an exuvia on the boating lake and several adults around the gravel area by the Boating Lake, including a pair in-cop. None were happy to be photographed though. Around these lakes, I estimated there were in excess of 2000 Common Blue Damselflies, with many hundreds emerging - the reeds are littered with exuviae. There were also hundreds of Blue-tailed Damselflies with many pairs in-cop. 

The White-legged Damselflies on the Ise at Harrowden and by Weetabix are holding out well, with many blue males now present. The Black-tailed Skimmer I saw last week is still there, in the same spot too!

At the Greenway, Irthlingborough Lakes today, despite 21 degrees temperature, the lack of sunshine kept activity low. One Black-tailed Skimmer was seen on the path, but around the left-hand ditch activity was low. However, as the title of this post shows I was stunned to find a male Variable Damselfly, the first sighting of this species in Northants this year. This species is enigmatic and its habitat requirements are not well understood. There may be a small colony in one of the ditches here and I will be surveying more in the next few days in the hope of finding them. If any blog readers visit the site, please check every single Blue damselfly just in case!! I will inform the Wildlife Trust who manage this site and hope to get permission to search in off-limits areas. Please also keep an eye out in surrounding areas.

Blue-tailed Damselflies mating

Blue-tailed Damselflies mating

Male White-legged Damselfly, River Ise public footpath by Weetabix

Variable Damselfly, Greenway at Irthlingborough Lakes 

Scarce Chasers still emerging

Terry & Judy Wood visited Lyveden New Bield for the first time since 2014, and recorded a Scarce Chaser on territory. Back in 2014, they also recorded this species and it is possible they are breeding in the linear ponds there. This may also be the source of the Fermyn Woods individual seen by Roland Bogush. They also saw plenty of Four-spotted Chasers, 3 Hairys (a first for this site), Large Red, Blue-tailed, Red-eyed and over 200 Azure Damselflies. This sounds like a great site and well worth a visit, oh and you also get to see the beautiful unfinished mansion as well. 

David Warner reports seeing 6 Beautiful Demoiselle at Harlestone Heath, by the railway line. There is a fast flowing stream here accessible via the golf course. This colony have now been present for a good number of years and appear to be well established.

At Wadenhoe, I found 10 emerging Scarce Chasers, which is quite late for them, with only 1 male on territory. Hundreds of Banded Demoiselle were also present along with a single Hairy.

We may soon be buying a small boat to pootle along the Nene and are trying to pick up ideas on the best places to visit, so we took a walk along the navigable section of the Nene at Stanwick Lakes between the lock and the footbridge. There were thousands of Banded Demoiselle present in the marginal vegetation and at territory over the water. When the sun came out (through thunder stormy clouds), the activity levels increased dramatically. I scanned the margins hoping for a Scarce Chaser, but could find none. One of my planned uses for the boat is to count all male Chasers from Oundle, where we hope to keep the boat, to Stanwick while my wife drives!

Common Blue with a bent abdomen

Mating Blue-tailed Damselflies, with a female of the rufescens obsoleta colour form

Make Scarce Chaser at Wadenhoe

Recently emerged Scarce Chaser, Wadenhoe

Recently emerged Scarce Chaser, Wadenhoe

Recently emerged Scarce Chaser, Wadenhoe

Recently emerged Scarce Chaser, Wadenhoe

Male Banded Demoiselle, Wadenhoe

A walk along the Ise

With my car in the garage for new brake disks, I took the opportunity to walk on the public footpath alongside the Weetabix factory up the River Ise towards the A14 flyover.. Fortunately, the Council have trimmed back the grass and nettles so I didn't get stung too much. I disturbed a resident Little Egret just before I got my first sighting of a couple of White-legged Damselflies, in all I saw about 20 which all looked recently emerged. None were showing signs of blueness so it was hard to separate males from females. Numbers of Banded Demoiselles were low and adults were quite hard to find, as were Large Red Damselflies. I met a work colleague, Brendan who told me he'd seen a large blue dragonfly further up in Southfields Farm Marsh. Hoping for a Scarce Chaser I hurried along, and found a beautiful semi-mature male Broad-bodied Chaser at territory over a muddy pond. While not quite as exciting as a Scarce Chaser on the Ise (I am still expecting this within the next few years), it's always great to find a new BbC site.

On the walk back, I spotted an unusual dragonfly flying around the recently mown path, expecting a Hairy, I was surprised to find it was a Black-tailed Skimmer. I recall from visits about 7-8 years ago, a thriving colony in the wildlife ponds at Wicksteed park, so I presume it came from there which is only a short distance away. I shall have to return there to re-survey this year. This is one of the things I find exciting - dragonflies are predictable in their habitats, but occasionally throw up a wobbly by appearing in totally unsuitable sites, particularly during their maturation phase. The sightings of Scarce Chaser at Fermyn Woods and more recently at Fineshade Wood (by Barrie Gilpin) are cases in point.

Make Broad-bodied Chaser

White-legged Damselfly

Bottom end of a female Banded Demoiselle

Front end of a female Banded Demoiselle

A quiet week

Not much to report as this last week has been overcast and cold with little opportunity for seeing any dragonfly action. I did find 12 Emperor exuviae today and was really frustrated that despite getting out really early, I didn't find a pre-flight adult. At Castle Ashby Gardens this afternoon, there were many Azures, Large Reds, Blue-tailed Damselflies and a few Four-spotted Chasers around the ponds.

Barrie Gilpin reports finding a Scarce Chaser at Fineshades Woods. With Roland's record of an immature make at Fermyn Woods, this species appears to be very mobile this year despite the poor weather.

Emperor exuvia

Scarce Chasers emerging in good numbers

A walk along the Nene at Waddenhoe revealed a good number of Scarce Chasers, both in the meadow taking their first flights and in the marginal vegetation having just emerged. Having just flown for the first time, Scarce Chasers tend to land in grasses at ground level which makes getting a decent photo quite hard, and of course they are quite skittish being vulnerable to predation until their wings fully harden. Male and female Banded Demoiselles were also present, although numbers were lower than I expected. Like last year, I also found a single Broad-bodied Chaser along the footpath. I've no idea where it came from, but clearly there is a breeding pond not too far away, so I have some more searching to do.

John Showers reports seeing both male and female Beautiful Demoiselles at Farthinghoe Nature Reserve on 22 May. 

Male Banded Demoiselle

Male Banded Demoiselle

Female Broad-bodied Chaser

Recently emerged Scarce Chaser

Four-spots, Scarce Chasers and Downys

I received an email from Roland Bogush, via Flickr, with a request to confirm an ID of a dragonfly seen at Fermyn Woods Country Park. The said dragonfly was a recently emerged Scarce Chaser. Roland couldn't find it's exuvia, so couldn't confirm if it had emerged there or had flown from elsewhere. The nearest river is Harper's Brook, but I am not sure this stretch of the river is entirely suitable. If the Chaser did emerge from Fermyn Woods, it will be the first breeding in a non-riverine habitat that I have come across since this species first appeared in the county. This prompted me to visit my usual favourite Scarce Chaser site at Lilford. It was hard work, but I found 3 emerged adults, alongside several Banded Demoiselle. Numbers of Scarce Chaser should build nicely over the next few weeks. I'll try Waddenhoe next.

I dashed from Lilford to Yardley Chase in the hope of finding Downy Emeralds. My timing was great, because I found 9 around one pond well synchronised. In amoung them were a good number of Four-spotted Chasers, but because of my Scarce Chaser hunt I arrived too late and most had already flown. Azures and Large Reds were present in good numbers.

Lastly, finishing off a good day, I popped to Kinewell Lake in Ringstead to check on the Heronry. With nothing much happening, I searched around and was amazed to find hundreds of Common Blue Damselfly exuvia and several belonging to Red-eyed Damselflies in the fishing bay I was occupying. Now multiply that up and numbers must have been in the thousands around the whole lake. I walked alog the river at Willy Wat marina and here found hundreds on Common Blues, Red-eyes and Banded Demoiselle in the grasses by the River Nene. No Scarce Chasers though.

Female Downy Emerald

Female Downy Emerald

Male Scarce Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

More species appear

After last week's hot weekend, things started to move along at quite a pace. On Monday, I visited Kinewell Lake in Ringstead to catch up on the Herons breeding in the Heronry island. I was surprised to find over 100 Common Blue Damselflies taking their maiden flights. This lake is not a great site for dragonflies as there are few areas with good marginal vegetation, but obviously hosts good numbers of Blues.

My car was in for a service on Thursday, which turned out to be a great day as the sun was warm and bright, a big change from the previous few days. I wasn't able to go far from work, so took a walk up the River Ise and found several Large Red Damselflies by the river. Judy & Terry Wood had more luck around Polebrook and Barnwell Country Park, recording Banded Demoiselles on the Nene, Common Blues, Azure, Large Reds, Red-eyes and a Hairy. At Polebook Airfield they saw a Broad-bodied Chaser.

Thursday marked a monumental change at Weetabix, with a new dress code that allows me to wear shorts all the time (I work in the offices not production, so my hairy legs won't contaminate your cereal) although I do visit the factories occasionally and therefore need work trousers just in case. Anyway, not only do I feel cooler, but shorts will help me on my lunchtime trips as I can now kneel to get shots and IDs without fear of going back with dirty knees. On Friday, I was able to visit Ditchford where I saw Common Blues, a few Azures, Blue-tails and Red-eyes as well as a few more Hairy exuviae.

Immature female Common Blue Damselfly

Immature female Blue-tailed Damselfly of the form Violacea

Immature Male Blue-tailed Damselfly

Immature male Red-eyed Damselfly

Broad-bodied Chaser (Judy & Terry Wood)

Male Banded Demoiselle (Judy & Terry Wood)

More Hairys and Large Reds

I love the experience of walking along the side of a pond and witnessing 100's of tenerals taking their maiden flights. I was lucky enough to experience this on Saturday with many Large Reds emerging. I also encountered an emerging Hairys and a teneral female at Ditchford, but no sign of my predicted emergence of Common Blues, Red-eyes and Blue-tails, which I am sure will appear early next week.

Female Hairy Dragonfly

Large Red Damselfly

Emerging Hairy Dragonfly

Hairys and Blue-tailed Damselflies

I took a trip to Ditchford Lakes and Meadows this lunchtime with warm but cloudy conditions. Searching through the emergent plants I spotted a damselfly exuvia. It was too far away to collect so I zoomed in on it with my camera for a few photos to try for an ID. The caudal lamellae showed that it was a Blue-tailed Damselfly, the adult of which was no where to be found. I found no more damselfly exuvia, but did find two emerging Hairy Dragonflies and two more exuviae. Interestingly, all were female. I watched both take their maiden flights, and managed to capture one before flying and the other as it landed on a tree not far from the water. This weekend looks promising with strong sunshine and high temps, so I expect Common Blues, Red-eyes and Azures to appear.

  

More Large Reds

With The Wood's sighting in their garden and another report of Large Reds at the pond at Fineshades, I went out to find my own Large Reds. I hunted through several ponds with no luck and was just about to give up when I spotted an emergent very low down in some reeds. I promptly found 3 more to give a total of 4. The fourth was taking its maiden flight while the other three were perched alongside their exuviae. One of the emergent had fallen out of its exuvia, and when I rescued it I saw bobbles of fluid on its wings, which suggests the veins had been damaged. I am not sure if he will survive.



Male with damaged wings
 



Female

The 2016 season gets off to a chilly start

I published some research in the BDS Journal that suggested dragonflies' emergence patterns are only affected by temperature when it is a warm spring, in which case they emerge early, In cold and "normal" springs, emergence is usually at around the same time. This was supplemented with more research that suggested emergence is stimulated by UV levels rather than temperature, so a warm spring is likely to have higher UV than a normal spring.

Well, to add to my theory this spring has generally been cold, with average temperatures in April being lower than in December. It actually snowed here yesterday. Judy and Terry Wood reported the first Large Red Damselfly emerging from their garden pond in Polebrook on 27 April which closely matches their previous first emergence dates from this pond. This weekend looks warmer with more sunshine so I'll be out and about hunting for more.

Female Large Red Damselfly, Polebrook