A new dragonfly was the ruddy darter and these were more numerous than the common darters. Note the all black legs.
The three above are immature males, I think, and this one is an immature female.
By yesterday some males were already in mature colouring.
I also saw one mating pair yesterday. This was the male, not yet in full colour.
This was the female.
There have been more emperor dragonflies this year than I have seen before - possibly because numbers are increasing or perhaps because the weather suits them. I tried some flight shots but they were a bit distant and so are heavily cropped.
I also saw several males at rest but haven't seen a female this week.
Four-spotted chasers are still chasing although some are now looking a bit faded and battered.
This week's damselflies were large red, common blue, blue-tailed, azure and emerald. I also saw a male banded demoiselle but, despite running along the bank to follow it, I didn't get a photo because it stayed on the pond side of the reeds. The male emeralds now have their mature blue colouring.
This mating pair of emeralds were interrupted by another male hoping to steal the female.
A new butterfly this week was a small skipper. I expect there will be many more if the weather stays fine.
I saw a willow warbler hunting for spiders. I have heard the young but not seen them.
Until next week...
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