Downy Emeralds.

A friend and I ventured down towards the south of the county today in order to attend a walk organised by the county dragonfly recorder around an otherwise private site near Yardley Hastings. Our primary goal was, as the title suggests, to catch up with Downy Emeralds at their only Northants site.

Two views of Downy Emerald.

Luck was with us and we saw some Downies within minutes of arriving as they flew around the ponds near several WW2 bunkers. For quite a while it looked as if I would struggle to get a picture but the group found one resting and I managed some decent enough shots. Clearly this particular individual was not quite a hundred per cent as the county recorder, Mark Tyrrell was able to get it to sit on his hand!

Southern Hawker and Four-spotted Chaser.

Another species new for the year was Southern Hawker, we saw three examples but sadly all three had a disabling feature whether it was a damaged wing or misshapen abdomen. In far ruder health were several Emperors and rather a lot of Four-spotted Chasers. Damselflies were not neglected with many Azures on site as well as Large Reds and a few Banded Demoiselles.

Emperor and Large Red Damsel.

There was some other interesting wildlife on show with several Wood Whites being the highlight, other butterflies seen today included Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Large Skipper. At least two Common Toads were noted and a Fallow Deer or two were glimpsed.

Wood White and Common Toad.

On the way home we stopped at the Brampton Valley near to Hanging Houghton where we saw several Beautiful Demoiselles. These seem to pose slightly better than their Banded cousins which always want to seem to turn around and face you. I have to say the females of this species live up to their name though the males are none too bad either.

Beautiful Demoiselles.

Not many birds to report though we did hear a Cuckoo in Yardley Chase.