Hi all,
Today at Lough Aderra(Co.Cork),there were very few
dragonflies at the western end,due mainly to the fact
that there was quite a fresh NE wind.Nevertheless,I
added Emerald Damselfly to my own personal site
list,and had a few Ruddy and Common Darters,also a
Four-spotted Chaser.
Due to the fact that it would presumably be more
sheltered,we(Iain Hill and I)went to the western
end(where the fishing boats are kept).We quickly found
another 2 Four-spotteds,and 2-3 Black-tailed
Skimmers,with a male Emperor seen patrolling a small
area.A brief view was then obtained of a dragonfly
flying away from us:due to what I perceived to be a
hint of sky blue,I thought that it must be a BT
Skimmer,despite the flight being a bit odd.As we
watched this insect,it turned around,revealing that it
was,in fact,a hawker-type on structure.
It then became apparent that the blue colouration was
confined to a band on the upper abdomen:my first
Lesser Emperor!
(I may take this opportunity to say that Iain had seen
what he considered to have been a Lesser Emperor at
Ballyvergan on Monday 11th,but despite the good views
he was reluctant to claim it as such without others
backing up the ID.I went there on 12th and only had a
male Emperor.After seeing this,he realised that the
insect he had seen on 11th WAS a Lesser)
We then waited until a few local observers
arrived,and Denis O'Sullivan was first on the
scene.Imagine our surprise when,as we watched the
Lesser,it was chased off by a similarly-sized
insect,which proved to be a second male Lesser
Emperor!
All those who went down saw at least one of the
Lessers,and we later obtained excellent views of
one(and an Emperor)at rest through a zoom eyepiece at
approx.50x!All features observed(brownish thorax,blue
limited to 2 segments of abdomen,dark on the rest of
the abdomen(dark olive-brown),green eyes),but
strangely there didn't seem to be a noticable yellow
band at the base of the blue patch.
2 male Emperors seen at Ballyvergan also.
Harry H
Today at Lough Aderra(Co.Cork),there were very few
dragonflies at the western end,due mainly to the fact
that there was quite a fresh NE wind.Nevertheless,I
added Emerald Damselfly to my own personal site
list,and had a few Ruddy and Common Darters,also a
Four-spotted Chaser.
Due to the fact that it would presumably be more
sheltered,we(Iain Hill and I)went to the western
end(where the fishing boats are kept).We quickly found
another 2 Four-spotteds,and 2-3 Black-tailed
Skimmers,with a male Emperor seen patrolling a small
area.A brief view was then obtained of a dragonfly
flying away from us:due to what I perceived to be a
hint of sky blue,I thought that it must be a BT
Skimmer,despite the flight being a bit odd.As we
watched this insect,it turned around,revealing that it
was,in fact,a hawker-type on structure.
It then became apparent that the blue colouration was
confined to a band on the upper abdomen:my first
Lesser Emperor!
(I may take this opportunity to say that Iain had seen
what he considered to have been a Lesser Emperor at
Ballyvergan on Monday 11th,but despite the good views
he was reluctant to claim it as such without others
backing up the ID.I went there on 12th and only had a
male Emperor.After seeing this,he realised that the
insect he had seen on 11th WAS a Lesser)
We then waited until a few local observers
arrived,and Denis O'Sullivan was first on the
scene.Imagine our surprise when,as we watched the
Lesser,it was chased off by a similarly-sized
insect,which proved to be a second male Lesser
Emperor!
All those who went down saw at least one of the
Lessers,and we later obtained excellent views of
one(and an Emperor)at rest through a zoom eyepiece at
approx.50x!All features observed(brownish thorax,blue
limited to 2 segments of abdomen,dark on the rest of
the abdomen(dark olive-brown),green eyes),but
strangely there didn't seem to be a noticable yellow
band at the base of the blue patch.
2 male Emperors seen at Ballyvergan also.
Harry H
