The Southern Emerald Damselfly (Lestes barbarus)

With March very much on the horizon, the season moves ever nearer with a lot of dragonfly and damselfly nymphs entering their last stage as a nymph before emerging into adults to start the cycle off again. However, as I look out at the garden pond, it is completely frozen over and covered in snow which seems to have engulfed parts of the south of England in the past few days, and likely to continue for a few days yet. I wonder how these sun loving adult dragonflies cope as nymphs in these freezing temperatures and manage to stay alive? Another of those mysteries that nature throws at us. This weather has given me ample time to look back through a number of images taken over the years whereby I come across a number of images taken of the rare Southern Emerald Damselfly I found in east Kent in July 2014. These damselflies have probably the shortest flight period of the damselflies which makes them all the more challenging to find. I have only seen this damselfly twice, my first time being a single male at a traditional site at Cliffe Marshes RSPB reserve where they seemingly continue to breed in small numbers. I used to visit a site nearby to where I live until access was stopped which hosted an excellent variety of species and on one visit in July, I managed to find a few Scarce Emerald Damselfly and not long after, a single male Southern Emerald Damselfly. These damselflies are stunners and are easily identified by their metallic green bodies and bicoloured wing spots. How this individual ended up at this site remains unknown. Had it emerged from the site as it was in excellent condition or migrated from another site nearby? I was fortunate to visit over a short period and take a number of images which to date, are the best of this species I have. I really hope this year sees them appear in better numbers at Cliffe Marshes in accessible areas and that I get to visit again and enjoy them. Another date for the diary which seems to be getting filled up quite quickly already. As stated earlier, it's March this week and only a few weeks to go now until the first Large Red Damselflies think about emerging...if the weather warms up considerably!

 

Southern Emerald Damselfly (male)



2018 Challenges

With the season fast approaching now, I have started to think about what challenges lie ahead for me during the new season and thought I would share a few of them.

 

Photographing a male Hairy Dragonfly Emerging

 

I have been very fortunate during the past few seasons to rear a few Hairy Dragonflies through to emergence but despite having a few males to observe and monitor, it has only been the females that I have successfully photographed emerging. I did have a male start to emerge last year but it was unsuccessful and unfortunately, was unable to completely emerge from the exuviae and subsequently did not make it. I have netted a few Hairy Dragonfly nymphs during the winter months and although most have been released back to where I found them, I have put a few in my pond including a couple of males that I once again, I will monitor closely come May to see whether I can at last photograph a male emerging. This dragonfly to me signifies the 'real' start to the season and is always eagerly awaited every year. Will 2018 deliver me that chance?

 



Hairy Dragonfly Emerging (female)

 

The Norfolk Obsession

 

The past few years in Kent have seen the Norfolk Hawker continue to establish itself well in the Stour Valley and from what I am told, a few other areas within north Kent. As well as being a stunning dragonfly to photograph with those contrasting green eyes with brown body, they are also a favourite with the photographer as they often pose well at rest and also in flight. This has seen me continue to improve on my photos during the past few years and get quite an obsession with the 'perfect' flight shot. The last few seasons have seen me slowly improving my efforts but I would like to think that I can once again, challenge myself and raise the bar and get some more pleasing efforts. No doubt, a lot of July will see me at Grove Ferry and Westbere spending time in the company of these stunning dragonflies.

 



Norfolk Hawker in flight (male)

 

A 'Kent' Southern Migrant Hawker

 

One of my memorable sessions last year was watching 20+ male Southern Migrant Hawkers flying up and down a single ditch in Essex. These have got to be one of the most stunningly coloured dragonflies to see and I can't recommend enough to others if you have not seen them yet. Hopefully they will appear this year again in good numbers and I will most definitely make the trip again. I wouldn't say no to finding an exuviae too. In contrast to Essex where I have seen quite a few now, I have still to see my first in Kent despite them being seen for the past few years on private land in the Cliffe Marshes area. I have tried to gain access but have not yet been successful. It would be nice to think with the Essex population doing well that they may continue to spread in Essex and north Kent. There are some great dykes in the Reculver area on the coast that could well host a colony of these dragonflies in the forthcoming years. Fingers crossed that this species continues to go from strength to strength.

 



Southern Migrant Hawker (male) Essex

 

The New Forest Calls

 

Its been four years since I last visited the New Forest where I saw some of the iconic dragonflies and damselflies that live there including the Golden ringed Dragonfly, Southern and Scarce Blue tailed Damselflies. Its a superb place to spend time in and I really need to get back there again to see and improve on my photos from my last visit there and take in one of the best places to see odonata in this country. All being well and if time allows, I can once again meet my good odonata friend Paul Ritchie in his local backyard to sample the pleasures of the New Forest.

 



Golden ringed Dragonfly (male) New Forest

 

July Means Willow Emerald Damselflies

 

This is a damselfly as many of you will know who follow this blog that I have spent much time studying and photographing over the past few years. I have been lucky to photograph the nymphs, emergence and adults but would love to also photograph and witness the prolarvae emerging from their eggs in the branches where they have spent the winter. Although this task is pretty much impossible to see, I might be able to at least photograph some prolarvae as I have collected a branch which is currently hovering over some water. I shall keep checking come March to see whether I can see this most of rare sights. I shall find it hard to keep away from this species i'm sure again this year and will enjoy countless hours in their presence. I also intend to spend more time surveying in the area to see whether the species continues to spread.

 



Willow Emerald Damselfly Emerging

 

And There's More...

 

I have yet to visit Scotland where I still need to see Northern Damselfly, Northern Emerald and Azure Hawker. Its a long way to drive living in East Kent and their season peaks when I am still at work making it hard for me to make time to visit as I work in education and need to wait for the summer holidays at the end of July. Maybe its possible, I'm not too sure? I would also like to spend some time at Thursley Common searching for Downy and Brilliant Emerald exuviae as well as making some time to see the Common Hawker, a dragonfly I have only see a few times and only possess the one photo of. Add to that seeing a Kent Golden ringed Dragonfly, looking for Red veined Darters etc, it looks like its going to be a busy season and fingers crossed, the weather plays its part and allows plenty of time to spend out and about observing and photographing.

 

 

Branching Out

With the forecast again today for lovely sunshine and temperatures reaching the dizzy heights of 10 degrees celsius, I decided to have a wander around at Nethergong to look for and photograph the gall marks laid into branches overhanging the water by the Willow Emerald Damselfly. With the leaves off the trees making it easier to look, I was able to find many branches showing the tell tale markings left where the female had laid the eggs into the branches. Most were laid on the younger thinner branches on the outside of the trees which I assume are softer for the female's ovipositor to penetrate. I ended up finding gall marks on Alder, Willow, Dogrose and Stinging Nettle and all being well, it looks like it will be another good season for this damselfly. As I write in mid February, it wont be long now until the eggs hatch in March whereby, the young will hopefully fall into the water to start their lives as a nymph. They do have a back up plan though in that should they not fall into the water for any reason, the young prolarvae have a jumping mechanism which will hopefully enable them to reach the water. Nature never ceases to amaze. The nymphs unlike some other species will then grow rapidly and emerge as adults a few months later in July /August. Having photographed most of the life of the Willow Emerald Damselfly except the actual young prolarvae hatching and emerging into the water, I decided to bring home a piece of a willow branch and a stinging nettle stem with eggs in them where I have positioned them over a water tray in the hope of photographing some of this action. Its a long shot but you never know, I will just be happy to see some of the prolarvae and try to photograph them before returning them back to the stream at Nethergong where I found them. On another note, I have finally got round to making up a dragonfly and damselfly flight times chart which can be accessed by clicking on the 'Flight Times' tab at the top of the page. I hope others may find it of some use as I no doubt will.

 

 Willow Emerald Damselfly Ovipositing Sites

 

Willow Emerald Damselfly 'Gall' Marks



Large Red Damselfly Nymph (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

After visiting Westbere Lakes at the weekend for a bit of dipping, I called into a friends house to have a look in their pond for some Large Red Damselfly nymphs. In the past few years, I have found a good number in the pond but on this occasion, I only found 2 Large Red Damselfly nymphs along with a few Azure Damselfly nymphs and 2 small Broad bodied Chaser nymphs. I am hoping that because of the cold conditions and the fact that the pond has been freezing over, that more may have been lurking in the depths. I shall hopefully return in a few weeks to have another look when the water and weather finally start to warm up a little. With the start of the season only about 7 weeks away and the first to emerge being the Large Red Damselfly, I decided to bring one of the Large Red Damselfly nymphs back home where I spent an afternoon taking a number of photos in my indoor photography tank. They tend to be quite easy to identify by their blotchy caudal lamellae which often forms an 'X' shape and I have also witnessed them seemingly communicating by swaying their caudal lamellae from side to side to each other. Hopefully the weeks will pass quickly, the weather will warm up and we will be set to once again, welcome in a new season full of anticipation.

 

Large Red Damselfly Nymph (female)



Godmersham Hawfinches

This year has seen an unprecedented arrival of the Hawfinch to the UK and only having seen a handful in my birding life, I thought I had better try to see some before most make their way back to the continent. News broke a few weeks ago of a small flock at Godmersham Church so during the past week, I have made a couple of visits to see this stunning finch. On my first trip, it wasn't long until I saw 4 birds sitting on top of a few distant trees and they made a few fly byes showing of their characteristic shape and call. I did obtain some nice views of them perched in Yew trees but due to the number also on sight enjoying this spectacle, they were always very wary and only provided a few photo opportunities. With the weather looking good this morning again with light winds, I decided on another visit and arrived on site at 7.45am. As I drove up the lane there was only one other birder there so I hoped my chances would be better of getting a few photographs. It wasn't long until I heard a few calling and like Waxwings, they dropped into a nearby Yew tree together and started to feed. I was on the wrong side of the tree for the light but not wanting to spook them, I go into the best position and slowly they moved to the outer branches where I was able to get lovely views through the binoculars and thankfully, a few shots of this attractive species. A while later, a car coming up the lane spooked them and they were off again but during the next 2 hours, I had a few more views of them as the numbers of birders once again started to grow. Other birds seen in the area included 2 Common Buzzards, 2 Grey Wagtail, 4 Mistle Thrush, 2 Nuthatch, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Coal Tit and quite a few Goldcrest in the churchyard. A few come within range of the camera providing a few more photo attempts but with the cold starting to get through, I decided to call it a day and leave for home. A superb birding spectacle and privilege to see these normally very scarce Kent birds and at last, I had a few useable photos of them to keep. With a week off work now, I may even return again if the weather allows it.

 

 

Hawfinch (male)



The Emperor's Mask

I decided after photographing the labial mask of the Migrant Hawker last weekend that I should attempt to photograph the mask of Britian's biggest dragonfly, the Emperor Dragonfly. A look through past photos showed that I had not spent much time trying to photograph this so after work this week, I spent an hour at Grove Ferry trying to net a good sized specimen. Thankfully after a short while, I managed to net a near fully grown male nymph of 45mm in length which I decided to bring home for a photography session during the evening in one of my indoor tanks. Everything about the Emperor Dragonfly nymph oozes power, speed, strength and attitude and unlike some other nymphs, this nymph was going to be a challenge to perform in the tank. I had put some weed in the front of the glass tank to attract the nymph and hoped it would provide me with a few angles from which to photograph from but it seemed an age until I started to get a few photos. I had to do a little teasing to get some of the angles required but eventually and with a lot of patience, I was able to snap away and obtain a few shots showing the labial mask off well. I also introduced a small Stickleback in the tank to see whether I could see the Emperor Dragonfly nymph hunting but despite them being together on a few occasions which produced a few amusing photo opportunities, there was no attempt at all to hunt. Having seen a few Emperor Dragonfly nymphs hunting over the past few seasons, their speed of strike is pretty amazing and their success rate seems high from personal observations. They certainly are a force to avoid if you are a small insect under the water and they definitely don't lose any of that attitude when they emerge as adults. With a week off work now, I'm hoping for a few sessions out during the weekend and week ahead if the weather allows for some dipping and hopefully some more nymph photography indoors to keep the interest going.

 

Emperor Dragonfly Nymph Mask (45mm)

 

Emperor Dragonfly Nymph (45mm) eyeing up Stickleback





 



Under The Mask!

Another weekend of cold, wind and driving rain kept me indoors for most of the time but I did venture out on both mornings for an hour or so with the net where I ended up at Grove Ferry dipping into a few dykes in the area. In the past few weeks, I have netted quite a few Migrant Hawker nymphs of around 30 - 33 mm in length which has somewhat surprised me. I was led to believe reading through various books and looking at internet sites that the nymphs don't hatch until early spring and can complete emergence in one year. They then grow rapidly in order to emerge in late July/early August. Some of the books read did state that a few may overwinter in the nymph stage and emerge the following year but this has prompted me to ask a few questions to myself which need answering. Is it just a case that I have unknowingly encountered a 'few' Migrant Hawker nymphs and this is the norm or due to warmer winters and water temperatures, that the eggs are in fact hatching much earlier and the nymphs are growing over a longer period of time? If they are breeding over a two year cycle, then I can understand why nymphs would be seen now but most literature suggests as I have already mentioned, that they complete the cycle in one year, especially in the warmer climate of southern England. I suppose in order to back up my theory that I would need to dip in other areas of east Kent to see whether I could find other Migrant Hawker nymphs of this size. I would like to know others thoughts on this theory if possible. Having netted a few more Migrant Hawker nymphs over the weekend, I decided to bring one home for a photography session in the indoor tank before returning back later to release the nymph where I had found it. I decided on this occasion to focus my shots on the business end of the nymph, that being the labial mask which is the primary means of catching prey and can also be used in some species to identify them. I have been lucky enough to watch a few hawkers hunting and catching prey in my observations tanks last year and it was fascinating seeing the mask in action which shoots out in the blink of the eye on a hinge to catch the prey using the movable hooks and labial palps. In some species I have observed, including the Hairy Dragonfly, their strike rate was very poor but in the Emperor Dragonfly nymph, their rate of catching prey was pretty high. The hardest challenge was trying to get the nymph to rest against the glass in order to get some shots from underneath but with some patience and putting a pond plant tight against the glass, eventually I was able to achieve some desired photos. I would like a some point to photograph the point the nymph strikes but this is a tough challenge due to the speed but I will endeavour one day to have a go. Hopefully, I may have some answers in the forthcoming weeks with the Migrant Hawker nymph situation that I can report back on soon.

 

 



Migrant Hawker Nymph (showing the mask)