Fairburn Ings (2)

The remainder of sightings from our visit to Fairburn Ings where the warmer, sunny weather brought out Dragonflies and an abundance of Damselflies. Our first Dragonfly sighting of the year is this Four Spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata), and fittingly four pics to accompany our fine sighting.





To help me with ID's Ive used A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland, Steve Brooks. I'm still a relative newby to both insects and am more than happy to accept corrections.

A Blue Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) a first of the year for me, on the margin of the trail, a little distance away from the water.



A mature female Common Blue, single stripe on thorax, the elongated black stripes, its taken from a slightly elevated angle so can't make out the medial spine on the underside of s8.


From the single black stripe on the thorax I'd say these are also a pair of Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum)


A couple of Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), black legs, black pterostigma, black markings on abdomen.

It was lovely to spot a family of Whitethroats, this one settled on a nearby branch, a more successful sighting than that of the Kingfisher which we missed by minutes.

And last but not least a Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis)