FIVE DAMSELS AND A DRAGON

With the onset of sunnier and warmer days (it's about time!) the Damselflies and Dragonflies have begun  their annual immergence. A couple of days ago I went down to the riverside to see what I could find.... 

Large Red Damselfly (male)

 Common Blue Damselfly (male)

 

Common Blue Damselfly (female)  The pale colour and  the not yet fully hardened wings show that this is a newly emerged  specimen. The spine under section S8 of the abdomen also denotes that this is a female. 

Blue-tailed Damselfly (female)  The female can be one of five different colour forms...this is a rufescens colour form.

 Azure Damselfly (male)

Banded Demoiselle...one of the more striking looking Damselflies! These were out in good numbers with the males constantly patrolling back and forth along the tops of the riverside vegetation looking for avaliable females and having the occasional altercation with any other male that came within close range.

 Male

I don't know if this male was protecting the bug as a future meal or if it was just coincidence that they happened to settle in the same place!

 Female

This was the only Dragonfly species that I managed to see and I found four of these newly emerging Scarce Chasers. Three flew high up into the overhanging tree branches where they could wait for their wings to harden off, luckily this one stayed low on a Reed stem and posed for a photo call! You can see that it's wings still have creases and wrinkles in them and are not yet fully hardened.

WHEN WE HAD SUMMER

A couple of weeks ago when we had Summer, and before the Autumn like weather we're experiencing at the moment kicked in (!!), I managed to take these images of emerging Damselflies.

So, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope they go some way to brighten up your day and the rest of your weekend.

Banded Demoiselle (male)

Banded Demoiselle (female)

Notice how her colour changes from iridescent Green to a metallic Gold depending on how the sun catches her.

Variable Damselfly (female)

 Common Blue Damselfly (immature male)

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (coupled pair)

Red-eyed Damselfly (immature)

Azure Damselfly (female)

Azure Damselfly (coupled pair)

Large Red Damselfly (female)

Blue-tailed Damselfly (male)

1st. Damsels

SANDHOUSE LANE N.R.  BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.  MAY 3rd 2011

My first ever visit to Sandhouse Lane N.R. on a bright sunny morning (after an early light frost) with broken white cloud and a rather cool breeze. Max 17*C.

Sandhouse Lane is a disused sand quarry and offers two small ponds and areas of scrub, woodland, meadow and a heathland area that has formed on top of waste material from a former asphalt plant. This heathland is mostly covered in lichens and mosses and produces various orchids in late spring.

Once I had settled into a sunny sheltered spot next to one of the ponds it was just a matter of wait and see what flies by, or more to the point settles by. And I didn't have to wait long to encounter my first Damselflies of the year.

Azure (female)

Azure (male)

Common Blue (teneral male)

Common Blue (teneral male)

Large Red (female)

Large Red (male)

 I also saw a Variable Damselfly but alas no photograph.

Also spotted were various Butterflies, Moths and Bugs. Photographs of these next time.