Scarce emerald
A quick photo of a scarce emerald damselfly, the last one I saw this year.
Willow emeralds at Fingringhoe Wick
On Wednesday I popped up to Fingringhoe Wick and got some nice photos of willow emerald damselflies Lestes viridis. There were a few mating pairs around too. I also finally got a photo of a brown hawker, my odonata nemesis! A ruddy darter male posed. And a pair just about posed on some bramble.
Southern migrant hawker update
A post to update on the southern migrant hawkers in Wat Tyler CP. They have been seen most days , generally with sightings occurring in the afternoon, peaking between 2 and 4pm but I observed them on evening at 6.20pm Reports of up to 4 males on Sunday 4/8/13 were sent to me, from the…
Small red damselfly
A quick 1 photo post of a small red damselfly on Thursley Common.
Southern migrant hawker Aeshna affinis at Wat Tyler Park, Essex 2013
Regular blog readers will know I am lucky enough to frequent a place that last year had daily sightings of the recently colonising Southern migrant hawker Aeshna affinis, in fact its possible I spent more time than anyone else observing them last year. A month or 2 ago I was emailed about them by James…
Black darter dragonflies, emerald damselflies and other odonata at Thursley Common
Yesterday I had my annual trip to Thursley Common, the most species rich site for dragonflies and damselflies in the country. I managed some nice photos, including these black darters (my first of the year) which posed for some shots. The black mature males were flighty and I only managed this shot of one. Some…
Emerald damselfly cleaning wings video
Here is a video of a emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa) doing ‘the worm!’ It is really using its abdomen to clean its wings, which was interesting to watch. You can tell from the video there was a bit of breeze yesterday!
National Dragonfly Week: banded demoiselle
Species number 4 in my series to celebrate National dragonfly week. Today the banded demoiselle, Calopteyx splendens. This species is usually found slow flowing rivers with muddy bottoms, but they can wander far from these habitats, I’ve seen them a long way from any flowing water. The male (photo above) is metallic blue with a…
National Dragonfly Week: Large Red Damselfly
Species number 3 in my series to celebrate National dragonfly week. Today the Large red damselfly, Pyrrhosoma nymphula. This species is well known to UK odonata fans as the first species to emerge, usually with the first sightings in April, but in exceptionally mild springs they can emerge in March, as some did in 2012.…
National Dragonfly Week 2013: Scarce Emerald damselfly
Day 2 of my dragonfly species a day to celebrate the British Dragonfly Society’s National Dragonfly week. Today we’ll look at the Scarce emerald, Lestes Dryas Like other emerald damselfly species they are emerald green in colour and they have a habit of sitting with their wings at 45 degrees to the body, rather than…