Weldon Wander, White-legged Wonder.

With the chance of catching a welcome glimpse of the sun I headed out to Weldon after work and am delighted to report that the sun did indeed put in a very welcome appearance. My main intention was to keep an eye on the Variables but of course I was happy to see whatever showed.

White-legged Damselflies, a site first.

The nettles are growing higher and higher and providing some rather good cover for insects and it took several hours before I finally managed to find a Variable and once again it was in their favoured area near the telegraph pole. This for today at least anyway was overshadowed by my first White-legged Damselflies of the year with two being seen. These were also my first for the site and take the site total for damselflies up to an impressive total of ten. Plenty of Azures were about too, I reckon at least seventy but it could have been more and numbers of both Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselles continue to rise. A species that appears to be a little harder to find was Large Red, only three were seen today though others could have been hiding out in the nettle beds.

Variable and Common Blue Damselflies.

Around the pond I noticed increasing numbers of Common Blue Damselflies though at the moment they remain somewhat scarce. Plenty of Red-eyed Damsels were active around the pond and there were quite a few ovipositing pairs of Azures. At least three Emperors, my first of the year, were hunting over the pond and must have made life a little more interesting and perhaps a little shorter for the Four-spotted Chasers that up until now have been the dominant species.

Blue -tailed and Red-eyed Damsels.

Not a great many butterflies on view today though I did get a case of the blues, Holly and Common in this instance and also a couple of Speckled Woods. At least two Silver-Y moths were also seen, it might be a good summer for immigrants. A final insect of note was a Bumblebee Mimic Hoverfly, they really do look a lot like a bumble!

Holly and Common Blues.

Not that many birds around though I enjoyed views of both Kingfisher and Heron.

Bumblebee Mimic Hoverfly and Water Lilly.