Double Vision

I only saw two damselflies today but happily both were Willow Emeralds. A third attempt to see them at Finedon finally proved to be successful though it was far from easy. My brother and I had travelled over this morning and while the weather was not ideal it was most importantly good enough.

Finedon Pocket Park.

Standing on the bank overlooking the waterlogged willows eventually paid dividends after about an hour when my brother picked one out on a bare twig on the other side of the ponds. I've noticed that rather a lot of dragonfly spotters don't carry bins but they were instrumental in getting this sighting. After taking a distant record shot I moved around the pond and managed several much better shots of this male. As this was only my second sighting of this species in the county and third overall I was very happy  indeed. Other species about included the two darters and Migrant and Southern Hawker. Only a few butterflies were showing today but they included a Red Admiral  which have been pretty scarce this year. The only birds of note were several Marsh Tits.

First distant shot of Willow Emerald and closer view.

On the way home I received a phone call from a local naturalist, Alan, who was reasonably certain that he had just seen a Willow Emerald at Priors Hall. Happily I had been headed over in that direction so I arranged to meet up and have a look for it. A brief peek at the quarry lake provided views of an adult Yellow-legged gull as well as the usual selection  of species. Walking towards the ponds where the emerald had been seen revealed a few Small Heaths and a Common Blue while several Speckled Woods also showed.

Well camouflaged Common Darter and Small Heath.

I managed to find Alan who had in the meantime got another view of the now confirmed Willow Emerald and he showed me a photograph that he'd just taken. A nervous wait followed until Alan found it once again on some sedge and I managed a rather poor photo. I'd almost given up on Willow Emeralds in the county for this year so a double dose  was better than good. By now a large group of motorcyclists were racing around the area so we headed off to the George in Weldon where we had a celebratory pint.

Priors Hall Willow Emerald and Yellow-legged Gull.