First for Year Dragons and Butterflies

 For a birthday treat I took myself off to the quiet reserve of Watts/Monks Wood in Lincolnshire yesterday.  I was fortunate with the weather which was by and large cloudless and 22C.  I headed straight to the regular spot for broad bodied chasers but apart from a couple of four spotted chasers none were in evidence.  The pink water lily in the pond, though was looking magnificent.  I was pleased to see new for the year butterflies: meadow brown, ringlet and large skipper.  I was suprised to find ringlet as they usually appear after the other two but maybe things are well behind on my regular Horsefield patch. Also unlike the Horsefield, there were plenty of common blues but all very worn so they have obviously been out for some time.

On the large pond there were large numbers of bright turquoise emperor dragonflies but they were constantly moving and gave no chance for photography.  I think that they must have been perching up in the cover of surrounding undergrowth.  As I was leaving the Co-op pond I heard and then had good views of a juvenile greater spotted woodpecker.

Back at the smaller pond I was delighted to find broad bodied chaser and, as usual were a delight to photograph.  Having secured some images I moved on to Beatles Pond where there were more 4 spots and a retiring male banded demoiselle damselfly as well as a white water lily.  From here I headed back to the car via the Watts Wood path, picked up my lunch and returned to the broad body pond for a last session.  Just as I was preparing to leave another pair of males appeared and a three way territorial dog fight took place.  An amazing sight.

Altogether an excellent day topped off with a BBQ in the evening.

To view large, please click on an image.

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Common Blue

Dog Rose

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Juvenile Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Meadow Brown

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Water Lily

Water Lily

Dragonfly Fest.

Once the unpacking from last week's trip to North Wales had been completed, tidying up done and lawn cut, I decided to make the most of the beautiful sunny day by grabbing an hour down at Buck Beck Ponds.  I was keen to get to grips with the Broad Bodied Chasers again and, hopefully, photograph the male in full colour.  When the male first emerges it is the same golden bronze colour as the female, but after a few days he changes to a fabulous powder blue with yellow spots on the side; a stunning insect.  As soon as I arrived I could see loads of activity; a male and female broad bodied were copulating in mid air and the female then dipped her abdomen in the water as she flew over the pond surface ovipositing.  When not attending to the female, the male insect spent his time challenging a four spotted chaser for squatting rights on the reed stem that I put in as a perch for them.

A wonderful hour or so of wildlife watching.

To view large, please click on an image.

Broad Bodied Chaser, Male

Broad Bodied Chaser, Male

Broad Bodied Chaser, Male

Broad Bodied Chaser, Male

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Success with Broad Bodied Chaser.

Having just returned from the C2C bike tour on Saturday it was time for some sorting out and catching up with jobs, but today I managed to escape to local Buck Beck Ponds for an hour to check on the dragonflies. I knew that broad bodied chasers had emerged so I was keen to see what was happening here.  The weather was bright, sunny and warm as I arrived so I was full of anticipation.  I was well rewarded as there was a freshly emerged adult on the wing and I managed to capture some pleasing images of it.  I think that it may be a brand, spanking new male that still has to adopt it's beautiful blue colour so I shall return in a week or so to see if it has changed.  Other sightings included orange tip, green veined white, common blue, speckled wood, brimstone and peacock butterflies with common blue and azure damselflies.  A black cap was in full song and there was a superb display of ragged robin.

To view large, please click on an image.

Azure damselfly

Azure damselfly

Azure damselfly

Broad bodied chaser.

Broad bodied chaser.

Broad bodied chaser.

Orange tip

Orange tip

Orange tip

Ragged Robin

Ragged Robin

A Feast of Dragonflies

After a wonderful sunrise and early  light this morning the sky clouded over and it, yet again, turned cool.  In the afternoon, however, the sky cleared, the sun came out and it was warm!  An ideal opportunity, then, to revisit my ponds by Buck Beck to see if the broad bodies were performing.  When I arrived at the ponds it was still warm and sunny and at least 6 males were patrolling the pond with about 3 females so competition was fierce.  The males were either dueling with each other or vying for mating rights with the females.  The activity was frenetic and I thought that there was no chance of photographs. As the afternoon wore on, however, the males began to perch up for brief intervals and with patience it was possible to secure photographs.  What a wonderful wildlife spectacle.  There a reasonable number of butterflies on the wing as well, and I managed to photograph common blue, large skipper, small heath and a mother shipton's moth.  The large number of tadpoles in the pond are now sprouting legs.

Dragonfly species:

• Broad Bodied
• Azure Damselflies

Birds:

• Whitethroat
• Blackbird
• Chiffchaff
• Wood Pigeon
• Magpie
• Kingfisher (repoted in the beck)

Butterflies/Moths:

• Large Skipper
• Orange Tip
• Common Blue
• Specked Wood
• Mother Shipton's Moth

Common Blue.

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Common Blue

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Mother Shipton's Moth

Small Heath

Broad Bodied Chaser.