A Break in the Weather

Luckily for a group of people attending an escorted walk around Yardley Chase the weather stayed dry long enough for us to avoid a soaking. While Yardley is a private site our county recorder for dragonflies, Mark Tyrrell, has permission to lead in a group of people so that they can see Downy Emeralds at their only county spot. It was for this reason that Phil, Paul and I headed down for a peak and happily after the wash out that was Monday we actually managed to see some interesting stuff.

Downy Emerald and Azure Damselfly.

Several Downy Emeralds did show but did not hang around long enough for any good photos, the blurry dross presented here for your enjoyment was my one very minor success. As well as the downies I also saw my first Emperors of the year with two males and two females showing. A newly emerged Southern Hawker was another first for the year but some light drizzle prevented me from taking any pics. The fourth and final dragon of the day was Four-spotted Chaser, several were seen.

Red-eyed and Large Red Damselflies.

Of the damselflies it was Azures that were the commonest, these were the only species that reached double figures. Some Large Reds and Red-eyed were also present and there were singles of Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselle. Only two species of butterfly were noted though this did include Wood White which was also a year first while the Speckled Woods were in pristine condition. Not much else to report though there was a decent number of Common Spotted Orchids in bloom.

Wood White, Speckled Wood and Common Spotted Orchid.