A walk round the pond - week 18

At last.  The first damselflies of the year.  I had been hoping they would be out this time as I have been watching reports of emergence of large reds spreading up the country, starting in Cornwall and Hampshire a few weeks ago. The first I saw was this teneral (freshly emerged) female large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula).  It was fluttering away from the water's edge towards cover and stopped for a few moments so I could take a photo.

New damselflies and dragonflies usually move away from water until they are mature and have built up their strength, before returning to mate and lay eggs.  I saw only the one near the pond but as I was leaving there were two or three more on the hedge beside the bridle path where they were in the sun and sheltered from the wind.  This is a male, still with immature colouring (his yellow shoulder stripes will turn red when he is a bit older).

The other big news of the week is that the Canada goose eggs have hatched and the parents now have eight goslings.

The willow warblers are building a nest at the base of a birch tree.  Here one of them is bringing in what looks like a swan feather.

Other birds I saw or heard included a heron, swallows, a chiffchaff, little grebe, coot, moorhen, etc.

A new flower out this week is lady's smock (cuckooflower).  It is the food plant of the larvae of the orange tip butterfly and I saw several of those flying around.

This one was visited by a bee fly (Bombylius major).

There were plenty of dandelions for the bees as well.  Mostly red-tailed and common carder bumblebees.

What we need next is a dragonfly.  I expect the first to emerge later this month will be four-spotted chasers.