Norfolk Dragon/Damselflies reports/news (3 Viewers)

[Paul Woolnough]

Common Blue, Azure and Blue Tailed at Thomson Common on Sunday morning.

Also saw this newly emerged and three Emeralds, but are they Scarce Emeralds? Sorry the pics aren't too sharp it was a little windy.

Lewis

from left to right 2 (female) and 4 (male) are definitely common emerald. 3 can't be distinguished due to the angle of the photo.

Thanks HD for identifications.

When I see male emerald damselflies I look at the rear end of the abdomen. There are four appendages. The inner two are narrow and straight on (common) emerald and are broader and turn inwards on scarce emerald.

 

[Paul Woolnough]

second reply: first and fourth picture

The narrow straight inner appendages on the fourth picture confirm common emerald damselfly: lestes sponsa.

The first picture is the most interesting of the four. Have tried to indentify the case or exuvia of the insect photographed. (Latin names here hence you may see exuvium, exuvia and exuviae in documents etc.)

Cannot identify as to whether it is common lestes sponsa or scarce L dryas. (Assuming it is one of either species.)


British Dragonfly Society website
Lestes larvae and exuviae can be separated from other damselfly species firstly by the shape of the labium and prementum and banding of the caudal lamellæ. However, separating the Scarce Emerald Damselfly and the Emerald Damselfly can only be achieved definitely by close examination of the mouthparts (i.e. labium and prementum).

Have to say I am not familiar with the above and have learnt something today.

 

[HarassedDad]

In fact the easiest way to seperate species in the first photo would be on th eanal appendages - but the angle precludes this. On balance it looks like common. As Paul says, the inner claspers are noticiably more curved in scarce.
In females the easiest distinguishing mark is to look at the cerci (the wire-like protrusions at the rear. In common the two pairs are of equal length, in scarce the bottom pair protrude further than the upper pair. (The pattern on segment 1 also differs, but isn't easy to see, and isn't visible in the photos.)

 

[Tractorboy69]

Comparison pics of Common (left) and Scarce Emerald (right) attached (taken on Thompson Common last year), with the insets showing the differences in the shapes of the inner claspers.

Simon

 

[HarassedDad]

That's a really useful id chart there.
Yesterday I managed norfolk hawker at 7pm and a hairy ovipositing at 7.20 - clearly the rotten weather earlier had made them run late. Both at strumpshaw.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Thanks HD, Paul and Simon for your replies on Emeralds. All most helpful, don't now why I didn't take more interest in them before.

Went out again yesterday evening. Saw Azure, blue tailed and red eyed damsels and four spotted chasers at Sandwade Mere,Stow Bedon and then more Azure, Emerald, and fs chasers at Thompson Common. Watched a Common Blue carrying a moth. Saw it land where it stripped off the wings and then ate the rest. Facinating to see.

 

[HarassedDad]

Arrived Strumpshaw for a dragonfly walk this afternoon feeling fairly pessimistic about our prospects given the weather. No sooner had we arrived than an urgent wisper of "otter" had us racing (quietly!) to the reception hide where we were treated to smashing views of an otter swimming around right in front of the hide, down to 10m. Amazing views.

And after that we had four-spot, Norfolk, black-tailed, scarce chaser, azure, variable and all colour variants of blue-tailed damsel (all but norfolk and variable in the hand - my first "net tick" for scarce.) Sadly no butterflies except for a briefly glimpsed large skipper - but you can't have everything I suppose!

Andy B

 

[firstreesjohn]

Dersingham Bog

A very pleasant couple of hours walk around this varied and productive site.

My first Black Darters of the year: photo of immature male on the left, female on the right. At the main pond were also 1 male and 2 female Emperors (one ovipositing), Black-tailed Skimmers, Four-spotted Chasers, Large Reds, various ‘blues’ and Emeralds.

Complementing this were a rather tatty Peregrine, Tree Pipit, Woodlark and a family of Stonechats.

A nicely posing hoverfly Sericomyia silentis was at the circular boardwalk.

Reviewing my photos, I now find this female Ruddy Darter (RH pic), that looks as if it hadn't been around for a long time.

 

[HarassedDad]

Had my first Brown Hawker yesterday at yarmouth.

 

[firstreesjohn]

More evidence of summer

Dozens of Banded Demoiselles were at the picnic area near the ford at Glandford this morning- almost all males, for some reason. I could see no other ‘larger’ dragons there, though.

Walsey held the same (I think) male Hairy as previously- but that, again, was the only ‘larger’ dragon. Where have they all gone ?

Ringlets were in evidence and I was lucky to manage a poorish shot of the hoverfly Volucella inanis, at the north end of the track at Walsey. I've found these extremely skittish in the past; this one, once disturbed, flew all the way down the track and out of sight.

 

[firstreesjohn]

Where have they gone ?

1 male Black-tailed Skimmer at Cley this morning,

male Hairy at Friary (and a female Banded Demoiselle),

probable Brown Hawker, that glided in stately fashion around the corner at Walsey . . .

Where are the larger dragons up here ?

 

[HarassedDad]

Catfield fen this evening held
17 norfolk
12 BTS
1 4 spot
2 bluetail
5 azure
2 variable
and my first common emerald of the year. This between 5 and 5.45pm.

Mousehold in Norwich on wednesday had a couple of emperors and a black-tailed skimmer flying around the heath.

 

[firstreesjohn]

Norkers

A lovely, if rather hot and humid few hours at Upton Fen NWT, in search of more Norkers.

Before these, however, 2 Brown Hawkers were in evidence at the start of the trails, near the gigantic dragon. Unfortunately, they seemed in perpetual flight, if curious about this alien creature.

3+ or more were in other parts of the site.

There were lots of Norfolk Hawkers- easily over a dozen and perhaps half that number again.

A supporting cast of most of the other dragons/damsels to be expected was present in multitudinem.

A very painful and irritating fly stung several times, but there was neither lasting pain nor swelling.

This Ladybird was interesting and doesn’t seem conform to any of the ‘numbered’ species. Help !

 

[HarassedDad]

Ladybird's a harlequin (red legs is the giveaway: most uk species have black legs).

 

[Fozzybear]

1 male Black-tailed Skimmer at Cley this morning,

I saw one there when I was at the reserve a couple of weeks ago. Hadn't seen one before but then I came home to Essex I found quite a few on my patch amongst the Scarce Chasers... strange how that happens, last year it was the same thing with Small Skippers. :-O

 

[tootsietim]

I work in a timber yard in the centre of Norwich. We keep having male Banded damoiselles visiting the yard, and resting on our stacks of timber. ( we are less than 50 yds from the river)

 

[firstreesjohn]

More Norkers at Catfield

A surprise afternoon to spare saw me at Catfield Fen again, hoping for closer views of Norfolk Hawkers. In this, I was to be lucky- but only just before I left the site. It was hot and humid and they (at least a dozen) were mostly flying, albeit eyeing me up very close.

One was in a rather reduced state; another caught a grasshopper and I managed a few close-ups of its being chomped.

There was a supporting cast of 4 Swallowtails (one whose yellow had faded almost to white) and reasonable numbers of 5-spot Burnets. Many more Black-tailed Skimmers than last time, too.

 

[Tideliner]

Help needed. I need to find some pictures of tenneral common and adult southern emeralds. yesterday a friend and I found an Emerald with straw coloured eyes dull green abdomen \ thorax , but with straw coloured , but tinged with a hint of blue segment where the wings are attached to the body. It had a distinct but very dull blue end segment to the abdomen. At this point I would be happy with it being a common emerald but the pterostigma was long , wedged shaped with a 75% inner very dark , almost black and the outer tip (25 %) straw coloured. This is suggestive of southern emerald. Of course you never have a net when you need one , but I was looking at a range of less than 1 foot for 15 mins , so had plenty of time to fix its picture in my mind. I will have another look to see if its about in the morning. I must add its on a private N Norfolk site on a flight pond for duck. It was full of emeralds with probably 50 present
( counted 40 but I could not get to the rushes in the middle of the pond ) plus 3 banded damsels azure, common blue , large red damsels with 100s of emerging common darters and 3 tenneral ruddy darters. Only one dragonfly though a 4 spot chaser.

 

[HarassedDad]

Yikes, that sounds good for barberus.
Images here

 

[Tideliner]

Thanks for that HD I had looked at the BDS site and the photos are quite a good fit, the eye colour was wrong though but it could have been a tenneral \ sub adult Scarce or common emerald. There is a tenneral common emerald side view which is pretty similar on the site , but the pterostigma colour was different. However you cannot count out individual variation so was hoping to find several photos of various specimens before I make my mind up. I am pretty sure its a southern , but the guy who saw it with me is leaning towards common emerald tenneral.

It was pure chance comming across the specimen as I was showing a new vol warden around the site and checking the emeralds as my assistant warden ( who knows his stuff when it comes to dragonflies ) is convinced he found scarce emerald there last year , but at the time I was recovering from a opperation and unable to do the very rough walk through thicket stage pine plantation for 300 yards to get to the pond. He was unable to net any as the water levels were very high and the steep gorse covered banks only allow limited access to the pond at such times.