What dragonflies/damselflies have you seen in 2005? (4 Viewers)

[harry eales]

Just like to give this thread a little bump.

I've said it before somewhere, things happen up here a lot later than down south. Common Darter JUST emerged yesterday. Plenty of common blue and blue tailed damselfles.

Oh and Harry, I was in Durham today, on that new(ish) footbridge. Saw what I thought could have been about ten male Agrion virgo on the water. What do you think?

The photo is from my garden, of a blue tailed, not the river Wear btw

Hello David,
Your not mistaken, Banded Demoiselles have been recorded over a considerable length of the R.Wear for nearly a decade now, and commonly in Durham City. They are moving northward at a very respectable rate and have been seen of the River Coquet (the VC 67-68 Boundary) for the last three years and in numerous places in between.

I was at Stockley Fell NR yesterday, not far from Durham and haven't seen better Dragonfly ponds anywhere. I saw five damselfly species, 5 Emperor, 7 Black-tailed skimmers, several 4-spot Chasers, a couple of Migrant Hawkers (very early for around here). If you get the chance, have a look at it. A report was made today (unverified) of no less than three Lesser Emperors at Rainton Meadows NR.

I do hope you are keeping all your dragonfly records neatly filed to send them to your ever popular, hard working, Dragonfly County Recorder, at the end of the season.

Harry.

 

[Brian Stone]

Sorry noone could help with your enquiry Tero. Perhaps the bump will jog someone.

I managed a good find at the weekend while canoing along a stretch of the River Nene near home. In a couple of place were White-legged Damselflies (Platycnemis pennipes), many in tandem and ovipositing. As far as I know this is the furthest downstream on the river that they have been recorded. Another species extending its range.

Photo here:
http://thenaturalstone.blogspot.com/2005/07/white-legged-damselfly.html

Loads of other common ods around but no Common Hawkers here as yet!

 

[harry eales]

Sorry noone could help with your enquiry Tero. Perhaps the bump will jog someone.

I managed a good find at the weekend while canoing along a stretch of the River Nene near home. In a couple of place were White-legged Damselflies (Platycnemis pennipes), many in tandem and ovipositing. As far as I know this is the furthest downstream on the river that they have been recorded. Another species extending its range.

Photo here:
http://thenaturalstone.blogspot.com/2005/07/white-legged-damselfly.html

Loads of other common ods around but no Common Hawkers here as yet!

Hello Brian,
Common Hawkers should be out down your way, they certainly have been, for a week or two in my area. I saw one male seeking a female in streamside vegetation and a female ovipositing this afternoon, at an altitude of 250m.

Re. Canoeing, it's a very good way of seeking Dragonflies when access to the river or stream banksides is prohibited or difficult to access. A friend of mine does just that, and he does get some very good records that way.

Harry

 

[Brian Stone]

Of course I meant Common Darter (in response to David's post above). Common Hawker is a real rarity here. :stuck:

 

[David Nicholson]

Thanks to Harry for directions to Stocksley. Got up there today and found it to be a veritable Jurrassic Park for Odonata. This pic is the closest I could get to anything with my little camera though.

 

[harry eales]

Thanks to Harry for directions to Stocksley. Got up there today and found it to be a veritable Jurrassic Park for Odonata. This pic is the closest I could get to anything with my little camera though.

Hello David,

Glad you found it, a very nice site isn't it. You did better than me with your camera, I got some pictures of the site but not much else. At least you got one of the 4-spot Chasers, which was all I managed to shoot. Did you see the Emperors and Black-tailed Skimmers or Migrant Hawkers?

Harry.

Edit. Some Pictures.

 

[David Nicholson]

Hello David,

Glad you found it, a very nice site isn't it. You did better than me with your camera, I got some pictures of the site but not much else. At least you got one of the 4-spot Chasers, which was all I managed to shoot. Did you see the Emperors and Black-tailed Skimmers or Migrant Hawkers?

Harry.

I can't say I did Harry, or if I did I did'nt recognise them. The sun was a bit too bright to see anything clearly, unless it was close by. There were about a million damselflies around the place though, I had to watch where I was treading. I've heard the pond at the DLI museum is a good site, so I'm off there tomorrow.
Dave

 

[steve covey]

Wilts ID Workshop

Hi all,
today I led an ID workshop for Wilts Wildlife Trust volunteers at Shearwater Lake area in the Longleat Forest complex [no Lions noted!].
A 3 hour visit to a woodland pond and associated feeder stream and ditch produced the following:

Banded demoiselle
Large Red damselfly
Common Blue-tailed damsel
Common Blue damsel
Azure Blue damsel

Brown Hawker
Emperor
Golden-ringed Dragonfly
Broad-bodied Chaser
Keeled Skimmer

The Keeled Skimmer and Golden-ringed seem an odd pair to find in an area that is predominantly Chalk Downland [Salisbury Plain area] but the Longleat Forest complex is planted on a Greensand outcropping and is predominantly conifers. This results in low ph levels - and the above two species. The drainage ditch bordering a forest track has some nice patches of sphagnum moss in it to give you an idea! Heres a couple of pics showing female Keeled Skimmer and male Golden-ringed.

One of the most interesting observations during the afternoon was of a mis-matched pair of damselflies in tandem. Not only were they both males but one was Azure and the other Common Blue :eek!: The Azure being the 'male' ie. being in front. It was having some difficulty in disengaging as it's claspers were, quite obviously, not designed to 'fit' the rear pronotum edge of the other species. It did eventually manage to lever itself free - and I fancy I saw a slight blush of embarressment on it's cheeks as it flew away
Has anyone else come across this error of identification before?
Cheers,

Steve