Taking a Dip

Another Monday visit to Barnwell for a look around for dragonflies and anything else that might attract my attention. With the weather for the most part being sunny albeit a little breezy it was an enjoyable stroll round the park.

Female Scarce Chaser and Common Darter.

Scarce Chasers were despite their name the commonest species especially in riverside vegetation and at North Lake. It was nice to see a couple of fully mature solo females as I normally see territorial males or pairs in cop. Also present in decent numbers were Common Darters with more than a few emerging from Mill Lake. Brown Hawkers and Emperors were ruling the roost over the lakes while small quantities of both Four-spotted Chasers and Black-tailed Skimmers were also observed.

Four-spotted Chaser and Common Blue Damselfly.

Commonest damselfly was Banded Demoiselle though the other species were present in good numbers too. Plenty of Common Blues were risking the patrolling dragons out over the lakes while Blue-taileds appeared to prefer the bankside vegetation. Nearly every lily pad had a Red-eyed Damselfly in residence and I enjoyed watching one pair in particular. The mating pair were struggling to go about their business due to harassment from other males. Whether it was due to this pressure or not the female slowly sank below the water and continued ovipositing. Seemingly intent on maintaining his grip on her the male submerged too leaving both of them in relative peace below the surface. I've seen female Red-eyeds do this before but not a pair, I wonder how many get taken by fish?

Red-eyed Damselflies taking a dip.

Commonest of the butterflies seen today were Meadow Browns as many flitted around those areas where the grass is uncut. Small Tortoiseshells continue to do well and were joined by a few Commas and a Red Admiral. Other species noted were Large Skipper and Small White.

A pair of smalls, Tortoiseshell and White.

There was plenty of Kingfisher activity today although I heard rather than saw them, sounds as if a family party was on site. A male Cuckoo was calling from some distance off and the park's Mandarin Duck population has been boosted by a family of three ducklings.

Mandarin family.