'Orange' Needle in a Haystack!

With some pleasant sunshine, light winds and a nice temperature, I spent a lovely four hours at Sandwich Bay yesterday where the plan was to try and see my first Dainty and Scarce Blue tailed Damselflies of the year. Despite being early in the season for both species, they had been seen earlier in the week so I was hopeful of seeing them. I spent most of the time there with the place to myself. With quite a bit of patience I ended up seeing 5 Scarce Blue tailed Damselflies, 2 mature males early afternoon patrolling the pool and 3 'aurantiaca' phase females. Despite their stunning orange appearance, they were hard to find in amongst all the vegetation and grasses. I spent quite while studying and photographing them which is always a challenge with something so small, but quite happy with the results. I also found at least 4 Dainty Damselfly and within the next few weeks or so, the males will be  colouring up in all their glory. Also seen there were a few Azure, Variable, Common Blue and Blue tailed Damselflies, 2 Broad bodied Chaser and at least 3 exuviae of Emperor Dragonflies. There were c20 unidentified teneral damselflies leaving the pools throughout my stay. I also collected a few damselfly exuviae from the waters edge in the hope one might be from a Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly, which I still need for my collection. All in all, a very nice session. Fingers crossed next weekend is sunny and warm so I can get out again to enjoy these beautiful insects. 

Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly - 'Aurantiaca' phase female

Dainty Damselfly - immature male

Westbere Selection Box

With some nice warm sunshine this afternoon and light winds, I spent a couple of hours at Westbere Lakes from midday. It was lovely to be out in the sunshine and although still quite low in numbers, I managed to find and photograph a few species. Noted today were 5 Large Red Damselfly, 8 Blue tailed Damselfly, 8 Azure Damselfly, 15 Variable Damselfly, 4 Red eyed Damselfly, 4 Hairy Dragonfly were seen but failed to perch near enough for any photos. There were 2 Banded Demoiselle and 1 Common Blue Damselfly. A rather nice and relaxing session and nice to see a good range of species on the wing. Weather permitting, numbers should start to build over the next week or so. Hopefully a visit over my birthday weekend next weekend. 

Azure Damselfly - male

Blue tailed Damselfly - male

Large Red Damselfly - female

Red eyed Damselfly - teneral female

2026 Season Is Go!

With a few reports coming in the past few days of Large Red Damselflies emerging, I decided to make a visit to Westbere Lakes to see if anything could be seen there. I arrived at 11:30 in sunny conditions although there was a chilly breeze but the warmth could be felt in the sheltered areas. It wasn't long until I found the first of 7 Large Red Damselfly seen today sheltering in sunny spots. It's been a while since I've used the macro lens but thankfully, I was soon slowly moving in and taking a few shots before moving in again. With a few shots in the bag and a good study of the subject, I continued on where I thought that a few more damselfly would be on the wing but despite a good search, I only ended up finding 1 Variable Damselfly. I think I must be a few days early but hopefully, they will be emerging in the coming days before my next visit. It won't be long until a number of species are on the wing in the next month or so and fingers crossed, I can make a few visits to sites to see and capture them with the camera. 

Large Red Damselfly - male

Variable Damselfly - immature male

2025 Odonata Highlights

Although I don't feel that I got out as much as I wanted to this year for a number of reasons, I certainly had a few quality sessions. My tours were well attended and I made it to a number of sites throughout the season to see some of Kent's finest odonata. The Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly did well again at Sandwich Bay with low double figures seen which was encouraging and I saw my first ever 'Kent aurantiaca' female form which was a stunner. The Dainty Damselfly continues to do well at a few sites still and provided a few visits to count and photograph them. The Lesser Emperor continues to go from strength to strength with excellent numbers at New Hythe and a few reports from other sites. It was nice to once again connect with the Red veined Darter with a few males seen at Sandwich Bay and at Cliffe Marshes, the nationally rare Southern Emerald Damselfly was seen well and is one of my favourite species to photograph. 

With a number of photos taken, I have had a look through them and picked out a few of my favourites to showcase. It's been another good year for the camera and fingers crossed, the odonata species continue to do well in Kent and provide many more memories and photos next year. 

Dainty Damselfly - male

Dainty Damselfly - female

Large Red Damselfly - male

Red veined Darter - male

Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly - male

Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly - mating pair

Scarce Blue tailed Damselfly - 'aurantiaca' female form

Scarce Chaser - male

Southern Emerald Damselfly - male

Southern Emerald Damselfly - female