Downies Doing The Business

 A return to Priors Hall this morning to check on the Downy Emeralds that I caught up with last week. The weather was a mixture of sunny spells and clouds underpinned by a stiff breeze but luckily the emerald pond was fairly sheltered and hosted a good variety of dragons.

When I first arrived the focus was on butterflies as I added Meadow Brown and Large Skipper to my county year list. Other species noted included both Small Heath and Speckled Wood though the breeze appeared to be keeping most of the butterflies out of sight. As I approached the ponds damsels began to appear with Azures seeming to be the commonest. Large Reds are still showing in decent enough numbers while Common Blues continue to increase. Other species noted today included Red-eyed, Blue-tailed and Banded Demoiselle, I may visit the stream at Weldon to see if any of the latter are present this year. Hopefully a few survived the pollution and perhaps a few White-leggeds did too?

Four-spotted and Broad-bodied Chaser and banded Demoiselle.

Most of my time was spent around the emerald pond where both male and female Cuckoos were heard calling. It didn't take too long before a male Downy Emerald appeared though it was far less obliging than last week. It didn't spend any time hovering and its appearances were subjected to constant harassment from the gathered Four-spotted Chasers. Some exciting news came when I discovered a female Downy ovipositing. Up to that point I did not know that Downies employed the chaser egg laying strategy in which a single females dips the tip of her abdomen in the water whilst in flight. Had I not seen her eyes I may well have passed her off as a Four-spot! The pond had attracted quite a selection of other dragons too and the list included Emperor, Hairy, Scarce Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer. A Kingfisher made a brief visit before flying off while a Heron croaked as it flew over.

Common Blue and Speckled Wood.

Having left the pond I made my way back towards Weldon, a Muntjac barked as I did so. Further butterfly sightings included at least three Dingy Skippers as well as Common Blues. Two Broad-bodied Chasers were a welcome addition to my ode list and the male in particular showed well. By now I'd reached the gate at the A43 and it was time for the trudge back along the roadside and into Weldon.

Bee and Common Spotted Orchids.