Northants Dragonflies 2017

Both last year and this one I decided to do a brief summary of my dragonfly spotting activities on Birdforum and have decided to do the same on the blog. 2017 was the first year for perhaps as long as a decade when I actually made trips specifically to look at these insects. As a birder that basically dabbles in this subject I cannot pretend any degree of expertise but I can bring a lot of enthusiasm to the table.

Large Red Damselfly kicking things off on the 19th of April.

This year saw the launch of the Northants Dragonfly Facebook Group which was begun by the county recorder for Northants, Mark Tyrrell. It has been an invaluable source of information as well as having some excellent photos to gawk at and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Willow Emerald and Emerald Damselflies.

My season finally began on the 19th of April with the sighting of a female Large Red Damselfly close to Corby Sewage Works and this was the only species that I saw during the month. By May the 7th a further five species had emerged including my first dragon as opposed to damsel in the shape of a Hairy Dragonfly. From then onwards species were added on a regular basis with many taking advantage of warm Spring weather to emerge earlier than usual.

2017 saw only my second sighting of Beautiful Demoiselle in the county.

A Willow Emerald at Finedon Pocket Park provided the highlight of the year as it was a completely new species for me and proved to be my twenty second species for the year in the county. I spent rather a long time attempting to find my own at other locations but was unsuccessful, perhaps next year. This was also a good year for Emerald Damsel too with records of this species from five sites.

Small Red-eyed and White-leggeds both did well.

Small Red-eyeds featured strongly too with sightings from the established colonies at Weldon and Barnwell, additional and perhaps new colonies at Deene and Harringworth Lodge Lakes and a singleton at Priors Hall. This species emerged early with a first sighting at Weldon on the 21st of June and a last one at the same location at the end of September. Another definite highlight was seeing several Beautiful Demoiselles at Brampton Fisheries, these were only my second observation in the county of this attractive species.

Banded Demoiselles lasted into October at Weldon.

White-legged Damsels seemed to enjoy a good year too with a strong population along the Welland between Middleton and Gretton and other good populations at Deenethorpe and nearby Deene. Wandering individuals were noted near Corby Sewage Works (a coupled pair), Priors Hall and the pond near Eurohub where a female attracted the attentions of an amorous Azure Damselfly.

A Scarce Chaser at Deene Lake.

Perhaps my favourite species, Banded Demoiselle added a little spice to the latter end of the season when a few individuals lingered until the 15th of October. I can't confirm it at the moment but I believe that these may have been the latest in the country. Great to see this species doing so well with the populations along the Nene and the Welland featuring strongly but also on many of the smaller streams too. Wandering ones were found at many sires away from their usual habitats.

Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers.

A Scarce Chaser at Deene Lake was my first away from the Nene, perhaps they will make their way to the Welland in 2018, here's hoping anyway. The larger dragonflies provided few other surprises though they were as interesting as always with hawkers, chasers and skimmers supplying lots of entertainment. My one slight disappointment was failing to see a Red-veined Darter that was photographed at Pitsford Res as this was the only one recorded in the county this year. Darters provided my greatest I.D challenges and also my last record of the year when a male and female were seen close to Brookfield Plantation, Corby on the 5th of November.

Brown and Migrant Hawkers.

Next year I want to find my own Willow Emeralds, surely they must be about somewhere other than Finedon (I hope). I'd also like to see some Variable Damselflies too so may spend more time trying to find some within the modern county of Northants, a hard task perhaps but one worth trying I believe. A final quest will be to catch up with Downy Emeralds at their one site in the south of the county, I've only seen them in Surrey before so some more local ones will go down very well indeed.

Emperor and last of the line Common Darter 5/11.