Friday 4th.June 2010

Could only manage a couple of hours out this morning , and spent them at Spring Park Pond . The car thermometer was already reading 16C , but on arrival at the pond , all was quiet . A look around revealed that many more Broad Bodied Chasers had emerged , their exuvia still attached to emergent vegetation . Before I could get half way round the pond , a large dragonfly , lifted from just above the water surface , and made it's first flight , vertically into the surrounding trees . When I got around to the area , the exuvia of an Emperor Dragonfly was found in the vegetation , and later , a second was found . Just the odd Large Red and Azure damselflies were recorded around the pond , so I headed off to the sheltered meadow , and the vegetation that surrounds it , a favourite place for feeding and resting Broad Bodied Chasers . On the way , I recorded a single Small Copper , looking very colourful in the weaker morning light . It could well have been a female from the way she was behaving . Walking through the woods to the sheltered meadow , I froze when I saw a bird , sitting at the foot of a tree , well camouflaged . My mind raced as to what it could be , and I carefully made my way to the left to get a better look . When I got 90 degrees to my left , this is what I found , a broken branch lying at the bottom of the trunk . Disappointed , I carried on to the meadow . Sure enough , on the brambles alongside the meadow , I found the Broad Bodied Chasers , the females in their golden colours , and the males in their powder blue colours , 13 in total , split almost exactly in half as regards sexes . As they seemed quite happy where they were , I headed back to the pond to see what else was about .On one of the emerging leaves , was a Wasp Beetle-Clytus arietis , looking like everything it says on the box . Also around , were large numbers of Soldier Beetles-Rhagonycha fulva , and by this time , the Large Red Damselflies were getting things together , this pair in the wheel or ring position . Just the odd sighting of a female Smooth newt , and a couple of small fish , probably the offspring of some Goldfish that some moron dumped into the pond , the parents of which I sometimes catch sight of . The tadpoles are making a good job of the blanket weed , and there were large numbers of Pond Skaters , and a few Water Boatmen-Corixa punctata , who spend their lives in an extraordinary upside down world . I never did see the Emperor Dragonfly again , but , just before leaving the pond , the first male Broad Bodied Chasers arrived to take up their positions to intercept any females arriving at the water , this one taking his place on the flower of one of the Yellow Flag Irises , that are coming into flower .
Carol had a surprise when I got home , describing a Demioselle that had flown into the carport and couldn't get out , without her help . From her description , a male Beautiful Demoiselle . I have never recorded the species locally , but have recorded a few male Banded Demoiselles in the past .