Emperors at old Sulehay

Saturday pm was perfect dragonfly weather, so I visted Old Sulehay to find Emerald Damselflies as they are missing from this area, and a colony would fill a gap in the Northants atlas. Alas, no Emeralds, but there were 12 Emperors, including ovipositing females, Black-tailed Skimmer, Southern Hawker, Common Darter, Azure, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies. I managed a couple of decent in flight shots of the Emperors.

At last - an Emperor in flight

I managed to catch thios male Emperor in flight at Wilson's Pits this lunchtime. In total, Igot about 6 decent pictures. Fou males were present and one ovipositing female. Also present, a couple of Black-tailed Skimmer, loads of Common Blue Damselflies and Red-eyed Damselflies.

On the River Nene at Waddenhoe

I popped down to Waddenhoe this afternoon to see how the Scarce Chasers were doing. While the weather was sunny about 12 adults appeared including 3 mating pairs. Good numbers considering the time in their season. I was surprised by the lack of Banded Demoiselle - I only saw about 10 in total, including this beautiful female (photo above). Normally, several hundred would be flitting about the water. Emperors, Brown Hawker, Red-eyed Damselflies, Blue-tailed and Common Blues were also present, again in reduced numbers.

Emperors at Finedon Pocket Park

Doug Goddard sent me a few records from a pond at Finedon Pocket Park, which actually is very close to where I work, so I have been visiting weekly over the last couple of weeks. Today, in the sunshine I saw two male Emperors fighting over territory and this ovipositing female. A single, old male Four-spotted Chaser occassionally joined in and many Azures oviposited in the algae. In the reeds I found a good number of Southern Hawker exuviae and I disturbed 5 recently emerged Ruddy Darter. Unfortunaltely, they flew into the trees before I could get a decent shot.

Irthlingborough Pits Bioblitz

Have just returned from recording dragonflies at the Wildlife Trusts Bioblitz at Irchester Pits. In the first ditch we found a number of emerging Common Darter (the first records thisn year), along with Four-spotted Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer larvae. Around the gravel pits, we recorded Brown Hawker, Emperor, (including many of both hawking amoung the grasses), Black-tailed Skimmer, Blue-tailed, Red-eyed, Common Blue and Azure Damselflies and Banded Demoiselle on the river.

End of June Update

The end of June brings with it hot weather, and at last a chance to get to see some dragons. I visited Yardley Chase and saw: Downy Emerald, Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser, Large Red, Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies and my first Emerald Damselflies. Several Southern Hawker were emerging too (Doug Goddard spotted the first on 9 May). I managed to capture shots of Downy and Four-spots in-flight.

Chris Emary has reported seeing the first Migrant Hawker at Salcey Forest.

BDS Field Trip - Variable Damselfly Hunting

For this year's BDS Field Trip, we went hunting for Variable Damselfly. This is a species that has sporadic records, mostly in the north of the County, so we set off to see if we could find any colonies in the Peterborough area. Our first stop was at Maxey Gravel Pits where Variables were recorded here in 2007 although I haven't heard of any records since then. About 20 Variable Damselflies were flitting about the lilly pads on a large floating mass of lillies. A single pair in tandem landed on the pads and began to oviposit, frustratingly out of reach of my camera. In the air above, Emperor, Hairy and many Four-spotted Chaser buzzed around as the sun burts through the clouds. Also see were Common Blue, Blue-tail, Azure Damselfly, an ovipoiting pair of Large Reds and many Red-eyes. Maxey pits are very unspectacular and could be any other gravel pit complex, so why does it host Variables Damselfies while others do not? As we pondered this enigma, we took a detour along Maxey Cut, walking for many km along this linear water course. Here we saw more Variables, Azures, Emperors, Four-spotted Chaser, hundreds of Common Blues & Blue-tails and several Banded Demoiselle - fewer than expected considering the habitat. A great day out added 3 new 1km squares for Variable Damselfy and a total of 9 species seen.

Scarce Chaser at Waddenhoe

Waddenhoe is probably my favourite site for Scare Chaser as it affords great views of territorial males along the Nene from the Mill to the footbridge. Despite windy conditions, good numbers of males were present, along with Hairy Dragonfly, Red-eyed Damselflies and fewer than expected numbers of Banded Demoiselle. I also managed to capture a male Banded Demoiselle coming intot land on his territorial perch.

Brown Hawker Emerging

Emerging Brown Hawker

Male Red-eyed Damselfly

Found this emerging Brown Hawker this lunchtime, some two weks earlier than normal. The good (and long forgotten) hot weather in April is still having an impact. Also seen: Emperor, Hairy Dragonfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Common Blue, hundreds of Blue-tails, and For-spotted Chaser.

Recent Sightings

Doug Goddard reports Black-tailed Skimmer at Summer Leys. He also met someone photographing dragonflies there who had a picture of a Scarce Chaser taken near the feeding station. This is a great sighting, so if anyone is planning on going to the Leys, please keep an eye out on the River and surroundings for any more.

Four-sotted Chasers in flight

I've been putting the AF modes on my 7D to the test and have captured these in flight shots of some male Four-spotted Chasers. The males fly very quickly but will hover around their territory, and if you watch what they do and pre-focus, you can get some good shots.

Downy Emerald first flight "The Movie"

My new Canon 7D has a movie mode and I have been keen to capture a dragonfly's first flight with it. At Yardley Chase this afternoon, I found this recent emergent and filmed it as it warmed its wings and took its maiden flight. If you listen carefully you can here my exclamation at the end!

Recent Sightings from the west

Chris Emary reports the year's first White-legged Damselfies and Beautiful Demoiselles on the River Tove at Towcester. Also seen: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselflu and Large Red Damselfly.

Activity at Billing Gravel Pits

Jim Dunkley reports seeing Hairy Dragonlfies emerging and mating at Billing Gravel Pits along with Banded demoiselle emerging on the Nene (see Jim's pictures above).