A 'Variable' Amount of Success

With some lovely warm sunshine forecast for the next few days at least, I was keen to make a visit to Westbere Lakes to see what dragonflies and damselflies were on the wing. I arrived at 8.45am where I spent a few hours walking up to the river and then walked in the direction of Fordwich for a while before returning back. The river was in flood and walking along the paths at times was a mission, made even harder that I only had my walking boots on. I hadn't been walking long when I checked an area of long grass where c25 Blue tailed Damselfly rose up and I spent a while observing them and taking a few photos. As I walked on and neared the river, I started to see Variable Damselflies and in total, I must have seen at least 50 today. I say this ever season but it takes me a while to get my eye in to identify Variable and Azure Damselflies. The 'classic' males are pretty straightforward but in the immature stage, I often find myself scratching my head as to what I am looking at. Hopefully, I have identified them right today but please feel free to let me know if you feel I have made a mistake.

 

Variable Damselfly (male)

 

 Personally, I normally look for the post-ocular bar between the eyes which is lacking in the Azure Damselfly but I'm sure is present occasionally on a few individuals. Next, I focus on the shape of the pronotum which is quite distinctive on Variable but can be tricky to see unless you get quite close. As the season progresses, I will hopefully get my eye in on these species. I found a few individuals to photograph this morning in the warm sunshine including a few classic males. Other bits seen included 3 Large Red Damselfly, a few Azure Damselfly and only 1 Hairy Dragonfly. No sign of any Banded Demoiselle yet along the river but hopefully, it won't be long. Nice to be out in the sunshine again and a pleasant session indeed.

 

 Variable Damselfly (maturing male)

 

 Variable Damselfly (female)

 

Variable Damselfly