Dodging the Weather

It was a day of showers and blustery wind sandwiched in between sunny spells of varying lengths. Despite this unpromising blend I had quite a decent day looking for damsels and dragons in the Weldon area. I began at the stream next to the woodland park before moving on to the pocket park and then ending my day at Priors Hall.

Variable and Azure Damselflies.

There was a good number of damsels sheltering in the nettles next to the stream. Azure Damselflies are becoming quite numerous now and it's becoming fairly difficult to find Variables in amongst them. My digital camera and short focus binoculars came into their own again and I was able to find two males. Two new species for my Weldon list in the form of Red-eyed and Common Blue Damselflies were observed with single males of each species showing. A few Banded Demoiselles looking as lovely as always jinked away from me as I flushed them from their hiding places while a couple of Large Red Damselflies and a Blue-tailed were the other species recorded.

Red-eyed and Common Blue Damselflies.

A short stroll later and I found myself at the pocket park where I sheltered under a tree during a rain shower. Luckily it didn't last too long and I was able after a bit of searching to find a single White-legged Damselfly. From here I headed over to Priors Hall though by now the wind was strengthening.

White-legged and rufescens form Blue-tailed Damselflies.

If damsels dominated the scene in Weldon  then it was dragons ruling the roost at Priors. Four-spotted Chasers were the commonest species and I flushed several from long grass as I checked the more sheltered spots. One male Broad-bodied Chaser was bravely clinging to waterside vegetation in the teeth of a mini gale, these really are an attractive species. Two other species were seen though not photographed and they were Hairy Dragonfly and a Black-tailed Skimmer. Three Banded Demoiselles were my first at Priors this year, no doubt they were wandering individuals from the nearby Weldon population.

Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chasers.

Few butterflies were venturing out in the breeze though several Common Blues, Small Heaths and a Dingy Skipper were noted. Best bird was a female Cuckoo checking out one of the reedbeds while a Muntjac was the only other wildlife on show.