Beautiful and Hairy

The dragonfly season is well underway.  The first I saw this year was an immature male Broad-bodied Chaser in Gosforth Nature Reserve on 9th May, also the first sighting of a dragonfly in Northumberland this year.

A few days later I saw three Broad-bodied Chasers emerge from my pond but so far they haven't returned (while I was watching) and no more have appeared.  My next dragonflies were two male Four-spotted Chasers on 19th May, again in Gosforth Nature Reserve.  They were already patrolling and chasing so they must have emerged a few days earlier, unnoticed.

At the weekend I was down in Northamptonshire and saw lots of Beautiful Demoiselles, a species that is not recorded in the North East, although it does occur in Cumbria and on the west coast of Scotland.  This is a mature male.

And an immature male with brown eyes and brown wings.

This is a female.

I also saw one male Banded Demoiselle, a species that we do see up here.

On the way home I called in at RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley and had my first good sighting of Hairy Dragonflies, two males and a fleeting glimpse of an ovipositing female.  This one is also unknown in the North East.  Eventually one of the males landed for long enough for me to take a few photos, even though it was a fair way off and the photo is heavily cropped.  It doesn't look hairy in the photo but closer up the body is a bit furry, an adaptation to cooler weather in its early flight season.   Otherwise it looks a bit smaller and darker than the hawkers we see later in the summer.

This is just the start, with plenty to look forward to as the season progresses.  Let's hope it is a good one.

My very first home-grown dragonflies

This is something I have been looking forward to for ages.  This morning I saw the first dragonflies to emerge from the pond in my meadow.  The pond was dug in early 2022 so this is its fourth season.  In 2023 and 2024 it produced large red damselflies and azure damselflies. Also in 2023 I saw, separately, male and female broad-bodied chasers perched beside the pond. I hoped, but wasn't sure, that they had found each other and that I might see dragonflies emerge this year (the nymphs take two years to reach maturity).  Early last year I partially drained it to deepen one end and while doing so I found several chaser nymphs so things were looking promising.

I have been checking the pond each morning for the last few days.  I noticed large red damselflies two days ago and azure damselflies yesterday.  This morning I spotted a dragonfly nymph at 07.30, low down on a stem but accessible to a camera.

At 09.00 it climbed a bit higher and gave me a better view so I settled down to watch.  Despite the sunny forecast it was a cloudy morning and the light was poor so I used flash for most of the photos.  The nymph began to split along the back of the thorax at 09.25.

Then the dragonfly heaved out its head, thorax and most of the abdomen and hung upside down of several minutes.

At 10.02 it suddenly swung forward, the legs grasped the exuvia and the rest of the abdomen came free.

Then began the slow process of expanding the wings and abdomen.  I could confirm by this stage it was a female broad-bodied chaser.  It was interesting to see how rapidly the colours were changing as well.

At 12.13 the wings suddenly clicked open.

Ten minutes later I was surprised to see the wings closed again.

By 12.47 the wings were reopened and stayed that way.

The dragonfly climbed to the top of the plant and flew off at 13.10, three and three-quarter hours after the whole process began.

While she was still expanding her wings the dragonfly shifted position and as I moved to get a better view I noticed another one only about six inches behind her but more hidden in the vegetation and a bit behind in the process of eclosion.

After the female had gone I switched attention to the second dragonfly and could see it was a male broad-bodied chaser.

Eventually it also climbed higher before flying so I could get a better view.

While I had been watching these two a third newly emerged chaser, another female, flew into the grass at the far side of the pond and, after fluttering for a few moments, flew up into the trees. Broad-bodied chasers are rather like London buses - you wait ages for one and then three come along all at once.

The female will remain yellow but will become broader and darker with age.  The male's abdomen will quickly become royal blue and then turn pale powdery blue as he reaches maturity. Newly emerged dragonflies fly away from the water and spend a few days hunting, feeding and gaining strength and maturity.  The males return to hold a territory and the females come back to the water to mate and lay eggs.  I'll be keeping an eye out for them.  And don't worry, there will be more otter news here soon!

News from the pond

My new meadow pond hasn't featured on this blog before but now there is news.  The pond was dug at the beginning of last year and is designed specifically for dragonflies.  It is shallow, in full sun and is in the middle of the meadow (which also hasn't featured on the blog but will do soon). Now at last I have exciting visitors, broad-bodied chasers, which are often the first dragonflies to visit a new pond.  At the beginning of the month I saw this male.

And a week ago a female.

Then three days ago a male and a female sitting on the same stick less than an hour apart.  Now I just need them both to turn up at the same time, although it may already have happened.

Last year I did see an occasional damselfly in the meadow and a few common darters in late summer but that was all.  There were obviously more than that because this year there are dozens of damselflies emerging from the pond and flying around the meadow (damselflies take only one year to develop whereas dragonflies take two or more).  This is a male large red damselfly.

And a male azure damselfly.

And this is a newly-emerged azure damselfly next to its exuvia (larval skin), preparing to take its first flight.

And an ovipositing pair of azure damselflies making sure I will have more next year.

If you look very carefully you may be able to make out the dragonfly at the top of the stick in the centre of the photo.

Out and about in June

As the restrictions eased a bit last month I was able to get out to a few local nature reserves, just in time to see a few more dragonflies.  I already posted some photos of a pair of emperors, the most satisfying dragonfly photos I have taken in quite a while.  This was the best of them.

Here is the male on his own, except for an azure damselfly.

Other dragonflies from last month were male broad-bodied chasers,

and four-spotted chasers from Gosforth Nature reserve,

and at Weetslade Country Park the first common darter of the year, this one an immature female.

A few large red damselflies were still about but I expect their season is over by now.

This common blue damselfly's season is over as well.

The emerald damselfly's season is just beginning.  This female is the first I have seen this year.

A couple of interesting day-flying moths, a cinnabar

and a five-spot burnet moth.

At Banks' Pond this year a pair of swans are raising four cygnets, the first successful breeding for a few years.

Canada geese are also there with three goslings but they are harassed a fair bit by the male swan.  It is the first time I had seen both species breed in the same year.

I expect the moorhens have young as well but I haven't seen them yet.

I sometimes see a brown hare near the pond but I rarely get a chance of a photo.

Apart from bees and woodpeckers and foxes I haven't taken many photos at home but here are a few.  I have seen several sets of fledgling wrens in the garden in the past two weeks so they must be having a good year.

Another bee, this one a female Willughby's leafcutter bee.

And a flyover from a buzzard being harassed by a crow.  I have also had swifts, swallows and house martins hunting over the garden.

With the easing of lockdown I shall probably post a bit less frequently here, perhaps twice a week rather than every two days as it has been.  We'll see.