I recieved an email last night from Chris Tedder asking me to have a look at a photo of a dragonfly that had been taken. On opening the attachment I was startled to see a cracking male Red veined Darter, and even better it had been seen only 5 minutes from where I live. I have never seen this species but its most certainly on my wanted list. After an exchange of emails and phone calls I found out the location and hoped it would hang around to be seen. Luckily hopes were high as it seems to have been around for a few days now so this morning with the sun shining I made a visit to the area and met up with Chris. Despite waiting and looking around in the general area I had no luck but did see 3 Black tailed Skimmer and lots of Common Blue and Blue tailed Damselfly. Back at work I received a call mid morning from Chris letting me know that it had been seen again so at lunchtime I popped out briefly where in cooler conditions with no sun I managed to get a glimpse of the Red veined Darter but it flew off within seconds and was lost to view. There were 2 Common Darters, my first of the year seen and whilst looking I come across what I believe could be a teneral Willow Emerald Damselfly or Emerald Damselfly, my first this year. Please correct me if I have got this wrong.
Willow Emerald / Emerald Damselfly?
I grabbed a few shots before returning back to work. Another text later in the day from Chris had me again after work making another visit to the area where in cloudy and breezy conditions I did not hold out much hope. There was 1 Emperor Dragonfly on the wing along with a few Black tailed Skimmer and c8 Common Darter. With the rain settling in, not great for dragonfly hunting I had one more walk through the grasses in the hope of seeing the Darter and thankfully a bright red Darter rose out of the grass and landed nearby. I was soon grilling a male Red veined Darter, what a stunner and a new species for me. I noted the features needed to make a positive identification and set out getting some shots in the rain.
Male Red veined Darter
The rain probably worked in my favour as the Darter didn't seem to want to fly very far and allowed me to grab some priceless shots. I left the Darter in peace and whilst walking back found another Willow Emerald Damselfly resting. As the saying goes, 3rd time lucky and many thanks to Chris for letting me know of the sighting. Hopefully I will return when the sun is shining and grab a few more shots.
Male Red veined Darter
Well done Marc, a couple of excellent records. Very early Willow Emeralds, i wonder if they are local damselflies, or perhaps carried here on the same winds that may have brought the darter from Europe.
ReplyDeleteGreat macro and serie.. Congrats and greetings
ReplyDeleteStunning damsel and dragon Marc. Have never seen either of those species.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the Damselfly may in fact be an Emerald Damselfly. The debate continues. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteMarc, according to the book that I use(Steve Brooks) the pterostigma in the willow emerald damsel are pale brown edged black all other emeralds are either black/brown or bi coloured. Looks like a willow female to me.
ReplyDeleteLewington does say the pterostigma are only dark in common emerald (sponsa) when mature, and goes on to say teneral adults of other lestes (preumably sponsa) may be mistaken for willow (viridis) because the pterostigma is still white. Also, perhaps telling, the pale areas on common emerald are distictly orange after emergence. Looking forward to seeing them myself.
ReplyDeletegreat captures
ReplyDeleteMarc ,
ReplyDeleteTossing my two pen'worth into the debate , I would say that the damselfly is a female Emerald , mainly because it lacks the 'spur' shaped marking on the side of the thorax of the Willow Emerald , which shows up nicely on the specimen you posted on 30/11/12 - Looking back .
The male Red-veined Darter lacks the yellow basal wing patches , almost non existent , but the blue underside to the eyes confirms the species .
As to colour of pterostigma , with any digital change to show the image better , even just changing the sharpness or contrast , colours / shades change , often making that identification difficult from the original . An example being the last shot of the RVD , showing amber/black border pterostigma , whereas they are pale yellow .
Only my opinion of course .
Thanks for an interesting debate. It looks likely that this is an Emerald then, still a great record and may explain why a single adult was seen last year not too far away at Chambers Wall. I have only seen mature Willow Emeralds and was surprised to see this red/orange individual. I hope to see a few adults at this site then in the weeks to come.
ReplyDeleteNice one Marc, got to keep an eye out for Darters now then! I wont get the Emerald whatever happens though!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent photography Marc.
ReplyDeleteHola, unas preciosas imágenes, viéndolas se siente uno con más tranquilidad interior
ReplyDeleteUn gran saludo de un seguidor, desde Doña Mencia (CORDOBA)