 |
|
Latest Leics & Rutland Dragonfly SightingsMonday, July 31, 2006Another new site for SRED
Saturday 29 July
Had another look at the pond near Houghton Lodge today (SK 654024), and found 15 ovipositing pairs of Small Red-eyed Damselflies plus 10 or 12 unpaired males. Also present: Common Blue Damselfly, Emerald Damselfly and Ruddy Darter. We then tried another site in Thurnby, a large ornamental pond surrounded by houses (Thurnby Court) at SK 645038. Here we found 5 ovipositing pairs and 10 male Small Red-eyed Damselflies. Also present, at least 2 Red-eyed Damselflies, and a male Brown Hawker Sunday 30 July Houghton Lodge pond (SK 654024). Numbers of Small Red-eyed seem to be increasing, with 35-40 pairs and several unpaired males. Also Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Ruddy Darter, Southern Hawker. Also re-visited the Little Stretton pool (SK 645038) again: 5 or 6 pairs of Small Red-eyed and 3 or 4 single males. Also Common Blue & Emerald Damselfly, Ruddy Darter, Emperor, Southern Hawker. Sunday, July 30, 2006Priory Water 30/07/06
Small Red-Eyed Damselflies continue to show in large numbers with many coupled pairs ovipositing into the rafts of Canadian pond weed.
Other species recorded today were; Brown Hawker - 80+ Migrant Hawker - 3 Emperor - 10+ Black-Tailed Skimmer - 30+ Four-spotted chaser - 8 Ruddy Darter - 30+ Common Darter - 50+ Common Blue Damselfly - 100's Blue-Tailed Damselfly - 60+ Red-Eyed Damselfly - 50+ White-Legged Damselfly - 22 Banded Demoiselle - 10+ Emerald Damselfly - 5 Grantham Canal, Sunday, 30 July, 2006
Towpath from Bridge 45 to Bridge 47A (SK755324 to SK763337)
4 Brown Hawkers 6 Southern Hawkers 1 Migrant Hawker- immature male Very breezy morning with nothing seen over the water. All of above seen hawking along and over the towpath hedge. Grantham Canal, Saturday, July 29, 2006
Plungar, Bridge 47A (SK763337)
3 Brown Hawkers including 1 female ovipositing 1 Southern Hawker male 1 Emperor male - very ragged condition 8 Four-spotted Chasers 10+ Common Darters including some "in cop" 10+ Ruddy Darters 2 Large Red Damselflies 1 Emerald Damselfly male 50+ Blue-tailed Damselflies Friday, July 28, 2006TWO MORE SITES FOR SMALL RED-EYED DAMSELFLY
From Chris Lythall...
Colin Towe found about 10 males plus two oviposting pairs of Small Red-eyed Damselflies at a small pond near Houghton Lodge (SK 654024). The pond lies near a footpath to Thurnby running from the very minor road from Stoughton to Houghton via Houghton Lodge. We later went to the nearby pond at Little Stretton (SK 669007 ) and found one, maybe two males and at least one ovipositing pair there. I managed to get some digiscoped photos which are attached, not brilliant but will try to get better tomorrow. Thursday, July 27, 2006Soar Valley, 26th July 2006
From Dave Gray:
Watermead CP Birstall Section: 500+ Red-eyed Damseflies 100+ Azure Damselflies 100+ Common Blue Damseflies 2 Emperor Dragonflies 20+ Brown Hawkers 2 Black-tailed Skimmers Watermead CP North Section: 200+ Red-eyed Damseflies 1 Emperor Dragonfly 10+ Brown Hawkers 10+ Common Darters 10+ Banded Demoiselles Wanlip Meadows NR: Good numbers of Brown Hawkers (20+ at least) 30+ Black-tailed Skimmers I think its only a matter of time before the Small Red-eyed Damseflies will make it to the Soar Valley! Tuesday, July 25, 2006Priory Water 25th July 2006
A more extensive survey of the Small Red-Eyed Damselfly population on the fishing lake was carried out this afternoon using a 15x60 spotting scope to look at floating vegetation in the middle of the lake. The results of this were as follows.
mature males - 95 mature females - 16 coupled pairs - 16 of which 13 were observed ovipositing With such large numbers present it is looking more likely that they may have been present last season and have bred but were simply over-looked last season! Other species seen during the survey were; Brown hawker -27 Four-spotted chaser - 12 Emperor - 6 Black-tailed skimmer - 2 Ruddy Darter - 2 Common Darter - 5 Banded Demoiselle - 3 Plus very large numbers of Common Blue & Blue-tailed Damselflies Sunday, July 23, 2006SMALL RED-EYED DAMSELFLIES, Priory Water, 23rd July 2006From Steve Houghton... A detailed survey of the fishing lake to determine the numbers of Small Red-eyed Damselfly present produced the following results. Saturday, July 22, 2006Grantham Canal, Saturday, July 22, 2006
Plungar Bridge to Bridge 48 (SK767343 to SK765339)
4 Brown Hawkers 3 Brown Hawker exuviae collected The Brown Hawkers were mature adults hunting at between 4.30 and 5.00 a.m. Has anyone else witnessed such early, pre-dawn flights? The air temperature was 20 C, which may explain this. SMALL RED-EYED DAMSELFLY, first confirmed county record at Priory Water today!
From Steve Houghton...
"At long last Small Red-Eyed Damselfly has arrived in Leicestershire. Attached is the first image taken at Priory Water at Lunchtime today 22/07/07. There were at least three males perched on rafts of Canadian pond weed, I suspect there may be more but I had no binoculars with me. The image was taken on the end of the range for the Sigma 150mm macro lens but shows all the key ID features perfectly. Having now finally seen this species the differences between it and E.najas are quite obvious. I will be back there tomorrow morning to make a proper count and with a bit of luck get some more images. The reserve management is quite happy for this to be put straight onto the LRDG website latest news page." Please contact Steve (see Contact LRDG page) for details of visiting this private site. Thursday, July 20, 2006Grantham Canal, Thursday, July 20, 2006
Bridge 48, Plungar (SK765339)
2 Common Darter tenerals + exuviae 2 Brown Hawker exuviae Monday, July 17, 2006Easthorpe Lane, Redmile, Monday, July 17, 2006
Byeway between Redmile and minor road to Bottesford (SK800356 to SK808364)
6 Southern Hawker 1 Emperor male Both the Hawkers and the Emperor were hawking along the south-east side of the hedge and into the adjoining oil seed rape field Grantham Canal, Monday, July 17, 2006
Redmile Winding Hole (SK797357)
1 Emperor male Redmile to Bottesford Wharf (SK801365) 3 Brown Hawker 1 Emperor male Sunday, July 16, 2006Grantham Canal, Sunday, July 16, 2006
Plungar Bridge to Bridge 48 (SK767343 to SK765339)
3 Brown Hawkers 12 Ruddy Darter males 1 Emperor male 1 Emperor female ovipositing 30+ Four-spotted Chasers Four-spotted Chasers actively mating and ovipositing Friday, July 14, 2006Burbage Common and Nearby Areas, July 14th 2006
6 Southern Hawkers
3 Brown Hawkers 3 Emperors 1 Four-spotted Chaser 5 Ruddy Darters 3 Common Darters + Azure, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies Hawkers mainly hunting in sheltered areas out of strong easterly breeze Monday, July 10, 2006Grantham Canal, Monday, July 10, 2006
Between Redmile Mill Bridge and Barkestone-le-Vale (SK782358)
1 Emperor male 2 Brown Hawkers 7 Four-spotted Chasers including a pair "in cop" and ovipositing Many Variable Damselflies Many Azure Damselflies Many Blue-tailed Damselflies East of Jericho Lane Bridge, Barkestone-le-Vale (SK776354) 1 Emperor male 1 Four-spotted Chaser Both in "dogfight" which lasted for almost 5 minutes. Ended when sun went in and Four-spotted Chaser disappeared into the shelter of the canalside cornfield. Emperor returned to patroling for prey. Sunday, July 09, 2006Burbage Common, Sunday, July 9th 2006.
1 Southern Hawker hawking a sheltered area on a windy morning
Adey Baker, Carl Baggott Saturday, July 08, 2006Grantham Canal, Saturday, July 08, 2006
Plungar Bridge to Bridge 48 (SK767343 to SK765339)
1 Brown Hawker 1 Teneral Hawker (possible Brown Hawker) 7 Four Spotted Chasers Many Azure Damselflies Many Variable Damselflies Many Blue-tailed Damselflies Wednesday, July 05, 2006Grantham Canal, Monday, July 03, 2006
Bridge 48, Plungar (SK765339)
7 teneral Common Darters Grantham Canal, Sunday, July 02, 2006
Plungar Bridge to Bridge 48 (SK767343 to SK765339)
4 Emperor males patrolling and protecting territories 8 Four Spotted Chasers Many Azure Damselflies including "in cop" and ovipositing Many Variable Damselflies including "in cop" and ovipositing 1 Emerald Damselfly female Many Blue-tailed Damselflies including "in cop" and ovipositing 1 Banded Demoiselle male Tuesday, July 04, 2006SUGGESTED POSTING GUIDELINES
This news page is now powered by a Blogger.com blog. Regular contributors who have been invited to become members can add their own news by logging in - click on the Blogger button above.
If you'd like to become a member, please contact Richard using the email link at the top of the page. Continue to send photos to Richard as before, but please remember to title the photos with the species name, date, observer and location (abbreviated as nessecary). "DSCN00378" is not very helpful for me! It doesn't really matter how you lay your posts out, but like the posts above would be a good start. The site name, a headline if required, and the date of the sighting (if different from the posting date) can go into the "title" field, and the rest in the main post area. Use bold for species names, and colour for rarities, interesting records, first of the year, etc. The date is automatically published at the top of the post, but if the date of the observation is different please remember to state this. Your name will appear automatically at the bottom of each post, but mention other observers if there are any. Remember to include more detailed directions in the main body of text if needed. THANK YOU! News for June 2006
Date: 28/06/06
Site: Priory Water Observer: Steve Houghton 10+Brown Hawker 5+ Emperor 10+ Common Darter 1 Broad-bodied Chaser 20+ Four-Spotted Chaser 150+ Black-Tailed Skimmer plus Common Blue Damselfly Azure Damselfly Blue-Tailed Damselfly Large Red Damselfly Red-Eyed Damselfly White-Legged Damselfly Banded Demoiselle Date: 17-18/06/06 Site: Ashby Canal from Hinckley to near Shenton Observer: Carl Baggott, Adey Baker Banded Demoiselle 80+ White-legged Damselfly 30+ Azure Damselfly 25+ Blue-tailed Damselfly 300+ Red-eyed Damselfly 5 Broad-bodied Chaser 7 Black-tailed Skimmer 7 Plus: Water Vole 10+ On the 17th & 18th June 2006, Adey Baker and Carl Baggott surveyed a length of the Ashby Canal from Hinckley (grid ref. SP410930) to near Shenton (grid ref. SP395001). Our main objective was to try and locate White-legged Damselflies, which we were successful in doing. Our survey was carried out along the towpath side of the canal, so it would be reasonable to say that higher numbers of the species recorded would have been found on the undisturbed far bank. We encountered White-legged Damselflies in most suitable areas of vegetation in small numbers. The sections at the following grid references were particularly good for this species: SP408985 and SP406937. Date: 17/06/06 Site: Braunstone Park, Leicester Observer: Jacek Wendzonka 1 Large Red Damselfly Common Blue Damselfly very numerous, ovipositing noted 1 Blue-tailed Damselfly 1 Broad-bodied Chaser male 5 Black-tailed Skimmer 3 male, 2 female Date: 17/06/06 Site: Aylstone Park, Leicester (astatic ponds near River Soar) Observer: Jacek Wendzonka Banded Demoiselle numerous Large Red Damselfly pluys 2 exuvia Azure Damselfly numerous Common Blue Damselfly Blue-tailed Damselfly exuvia noted 3 Emperor 2 male, 1 female 5+ Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing noted 1 Common Darter teneral, plus exuvia Date: 16/06/06 Site: Newton Harcourt Irrigation Lake Observer: David Scott Common Blue Damselfly masses Red-eyed Damselfly Emperor Black-tailed Skimmers plenty Plus an unidentified Darter species Date: 15/06/06 Site: Grand Union Canal Observer: David Scott White-legged Damselfly numerous Date: 11/06/06 Site: Thorpe Satchville Observer: Steve Houghton Pair of Broad-bodied Chasers The male was vigorously defending a very small pool of water less than 6 feet across accompanied by his female Date: 10-11/06/06 Site: Grand Union Canal, Leicester Observer: Jacek Wendzonka Banded Demoiselle White-legged Damselfly very numerous, ovipositing and exuvia noted Large Red Damselfly Red-eyed Damselfly Common Blue Damselfly Blue-tailed Damselfly 1 Black-tailed Skimmer Date: 10/06/06 Site: Grand Union Canal in Wistow area Observer: John Tinning, Martin Withers Hairy Dragonfly Four-spotted Chasers Variable Damselflies Azure Damselflies Blue-tailed Damselflies 2 Large Red Damselflies Date: 7/06/06 Site: Grand Union Canal in Wistow area Observer: David Scott 8 Banded Demoiselle plentiful Red-eyed Damselflies Blue-tailed Damselflies 2 Large Red Damselflies 1 White-legged Damselfly Date: 6/06/06 Site: Loddington Observer: David Scott 1 Emperor 1 Broad-bodied Chaser female also a rather bedraggled Painted Lady Butterfly Date: 6/06/06 Site: Grantham Canal between Jericho Lane Bridge and Plungar Observer: John and Shelagh Tinning 8 Hairy Dragonflies SW of the “weak” bridge at SK773349. At least 6 males patrolling the more open areas of the canal and one pair in copulation on the hedge 100s Variable Damselfly Four-spotted Chasers Azure Damselflies Common Blue Damselflies Large Red Damselflies Date: 6/06/06 Site: Asfordby Hill Observer: John and Shelagh Tinning 1 Black-tailed Skimmer a female Date: 3/06/06 Site: Ashby de la Zouch Observer: Jacek Wendzonka 2 Red-eyed Damselfly males 1 Banded Demoiselle Large Red Damselfly including ovipositing and exuvia Common Blue Damselfly including ovipositing and exuvia Azure Damselfly Blue-tailed Damselfly 10 Four-spotted Chaser Date: 2/06/06 Site: Priory Water Observer: Steve Houghton Black-tailed Skimmer first of the year Monday, July 03, 2006News for May 2006
Date: 31/05/06
Site: Grantham Canal at Barkestone le Vale Observer: Nigel Wood 1 male Hairy Dragonfly plus one exuvia Roughly half way between Jericho Bridge and Granby Lane Bridge Date: 28/05/06 Site: Priory Water Observer: Steve Houghton Banded Demoiselle first of the year Variable Damselflies Broad-Bodied Chasers Azure Damselfly Red-Eyed Damselfly Large Red Damselfly Date: 25/05/06 Site: Priory Water Observer: Steve Houghton, Mark Rossell 40+ Four-Spotted Chaser 2 Broad-bodied Chaser 1 teneral and 1 semi-mature female 7 White-Legged Damselfly 5 Variable Damselfly 50+ Common Blue Damselfly 250+ Azure Damselfly 250+ Red-Eyed Damselfly 150+ Blue-Tailed Damselfly 60+ Large Red Damselfly Date: 20/05/06 Date: 18/05/06 Date: 14/05/06 Date: 11/05/06 Date: 11/05/06 Date: 10/05/06 Date: 09/05/06 Date: 05/05/06 Date: 03/05/06 ArchivesJuly 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007
Subscribe to Posts [Atom] |
|