First Dragon...Just!

Cloudless blue skies and a drop in the wind strength seemed to suggest that today might be a good day for insects and I felt pretty optimistic when I left my home this morning. I took a walk along to Harry's Park Wood where I hoped the wide sunlit rides would prove attractive to both butterflies and dragons.

Harry's Park Wood.

A calling male Cuckoo turned out to be the only bird of interest that I saw all day though there were plenty of warblers singing including both Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler. There were no dragons and damsels and only a few butterflies which included a few Speckled Woods, noteworthy only because I didn't see any on my last visit.

Small Tortoiseshell and Banded Demoiselle.

Bears Lane added Brimstone and several Small Tortoiseshells to the day list, I'm still seeing a few of the latter though almost always in association with nettles now. At the Pocket Park in Weldon there were several male Banded Demoiselles but little else and I soon made my way over to the stream near the Woodland Park. Here I found more Bandeds and about seven Large Reds but it was a briefly glimpsed dragonfly that caused a bit of frustration. It flew up from the streamside vegetation into a tree but seemed to disappear from view. I took a few long range pics but it didn't look as if I'd caught it on camera. This was more than a little galling as it would have been a first for the year whatever the species and so at that stage I put it down as a chaser sp. When I checked my pics on the computer I was delighted to see that some of the dragonfly was in fact visible and that my mysterious chaser had been a Four-spotted. Just proves how important digital cameras are for the would be dragonfly spotter! I've included my record shot here so that you too can enjoy some top notch nature photography. Other damsels seen included another year first in the shape of a Blue-tailed Damselfly and there were also a few Azures about too. Best butterfly was a Red Admiral, I saw another on the way home near the steelworks.

Spot the Four-spot and a more clear cut Blue-tailed Damselfly.

From here I headed over to the A43 pond where I had a walk around the grassy area between it and the road. My efforts were rewarded by the discovery of a colony of Dingy Skippers, I saw at least six though there may well have been more. This is the third location that I've seen them in this year, I'm pretty lucky to have them so close to my home. A second Common Blue in as many days was also a good find, I think that I might be checking this area a little more frequently in the future.

Dingy Skipper and Common Blue.