With the weekend here and some lovely warm, windless weather forecast for this morning, I decided on an early morning walk at Nethergong. I arrived at 5:45am where I spent a couple of hours walking around the area and checking likely areas for Emerald and Willow Emerald Damselflies. The weather was stunning early morning as I walked along the stream but again, failed to find and Willow Emerald Damselflies although a few have no doubt emerged and are maturing up in the nearby trees. I would imagine that by next weekend, I should be seeing Willow Emerald Damselfly numbers starting to slowly build. I did manage to find 4 Emerald Damselfly, 3 newly emerged and 1 dewy male which provided a few photo opportunities in the early morning sunshine.
Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) - male
I also saw a few Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly as well as 4 Southern Hawker and 1 Brown Hawker. With a few hours still to spare, I moved on to Grove Ferry where I spent the time wandering around where I noted a good 27+ Norfolk Hawker which included 4 mating pairs. Although a few had battle scars, there were a good number still in good condition. Also seen here were 10+ Small red eyed Damselfly, c10 Black tailed Skimmer, c10 Emperor Dragonfly, 3 Brown Hawker as well as good numbers of Blue tailed and Azure Damselfly. A most pleasant relaxing morning.
Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) - male
Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) - teneral female
Saturday is the best way to spend time behind the Camera,in fact any day is great,you have been rewarded with these brilliant results.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks John. You are quite correct, no people, cars, noise... Just me and the camera and the natural world.
DeleteExcellent photos Marc of the Emerald Damselfly, thanks.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Bob. A lovely species with some beautiful markings. The next few weeks should see some good numbers hopefully down here.
DeleteMore brilliant images, Marc! It's strange how the season unfolds. I've assumed that the chances are that down in the deep south, where you are, everything will be much earlier than up here in the midlands, but I was seeing L. sponsa a month ago! Best wishes - - - Richard
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Richard. There are other Emeralds that have been out for a while now but the Nethergong Emeralds traditionally emerge at the end of June. They seem a bit later thus year but hopefully their numbers will soon increase.
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