Variable Hatrick

Another gusty day though thankfully there was a bit more sun than most of the forecasts that I saw had predicted. I was able to scrounge a lift off someone in my household and get over to Wicksteed Park in Kettering. Although the blustery conditions were every bit as challenging as they were yesterday I still managed to find a few damsels to look at.

Variable and Red-eyed Damselflies.

My main target today were Variable Damselflies as Wicksteed Park has the largest colony of them in the county. While it took a quite a bit of searching I did eventually find them near the fishing lake though they were sheltering in neighbouring vegetation rather than at the lake itself. Over ten were recorded and these included at least two mating pairs suggesting that the future of the colony looks promising. Plenty of Azures were also found though they were outnumbered by Blue-tailed Damselflies, I can't remember seeing so many at a single site before. A further four species were also seen and they were Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Red-eyed Damselfly.

Common Blue and teneral Blue-tailed Damselfly.

There was not a lot of other wildlife to report, many of the waterfowl have broods of young and there were plenty of Swifts feeding over the lakes. A few unidentified whites and one Small White were the only butterflies braving the breeze.

Follow my leader.