Rodley Nature Reserve damsel updates

Having finally resolved some technical glitches, here's the first installment from last weekend's jaunt to Rodley Nature Reserve which provided a great opportunity for damselfly sightings. My favourite was this lovely juvenile male Banded Demoiselle, basking on pondside vegetation. Last summer, we found good numbers of Banded Demoiselle on a stretch of the River Aire near Kirkstall Abbey, only a couple of miles downstream from Rodley.

There were lots (20+) of male Azure Damselfly amongst the vegetation bordering the ponds and along the hedgerow leading up to the visitors centre.

And smaller numbers of Large Red Damselfly in closer proximity to the ponds.

We also caught sight of a pair of Broad Bodied Chaser dragonfly, too quick for a pic. Here are views of some of the dragonfly ponds at Rodley, well worth a visit.

Demoiselle in my garden

Dropping in to the front garden this weekend was this female Banded Demoiselle where it settled on the foliage of a Mexican Orange Blossom for a few minutes. Up until a couple of weeks ago I'd never knowingly seen one, then one turns up right outside my door, luckily Andrea was on hand to mark the occasion with a photo.

Here's another female, this one taken on the banks of the River Aire, next to Kirkstall Abbey. Both have the metallic green body colouring, with a distinctive white pseudo-pterostigma near the tip of the wing.



Rutland visit

This is the first chance Ive had to properly catch up with the blog since returning from our week away, which started with a couple of days in Rutland, Leicestershire followed by a few more days in Norfolk. This was a return visit to Ashgate Annex in Oakham, Rutland where we enjoyed yet another relaxing weekend in Isabel & David's lovely self catering luxury accomodation. Its such a great place to stay, ideal for exploring Rutland Water & the surrounding countryside. Here follows a few sightings from the Rutland portion of our trip.

Just after arriving I spotted this female Common Blue on the driveway feeding on Lavender flowers.  

Despite the overcast weather at times, we still enjoyed some great sightings. We dropped into Egleton reserve at Rutland Water Nature Reserve and watched this Kingfisher appear in a flash of blue, disappear and reappear once more where it sat for a good 5 minutes.

We sat it out in this hide during a downpour, where even the Hebridean sheep decided to congregate while the heavens opened. Apparently they were introduced to the reserve back in 2001 to help control coarse grasses around the edges of the water.

Through the binoculars we had a good view of the Ospreys, we watched as an adult consumed its share of a fish whilst sat atop platform on the left, before depositing it on the nest on the right for the juveniles to finish off.

During this visit we ventured to some new sites that we'd found via the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust website. One of the most interesting was Prior's Coppice, to quote the website "is an ancient ash-maple ash-wych elm woodland, probably a relic of the wildwood which covered all of Leicestershire and Rutland before prehistoric peoples started to clear it".

Here's a couple of pics of the wide rides that contain woodland marshy grassland surrounded by lush canopies, it was a treat to explore and well worth a visit.

On entering Priors Coppice we were amazed to see well over 50 Common Blues, I'm used to seeing them singly or maybe in two's if I'm lucky, so this was a rare treat for me. Here are a few favourites.

There were lots of dragonflies around and about, zipping above our heads following the rides, occasionally we spotted one or two resting on nearby vegetation, I think these two are immature Male Southern Hawkers, but I'm happy to be corrected.

There were plenty of Damselflies too, they really stood out against the foliage and stems, I think these are Common Blue Damselflies, single stripe on side of thorax, mushroomy mark on segment two.

Kirkstall canal

On Sunday we wandered down to the Leeds Liverpool Canal, joining at Wyther Lane car park near Kirkstall Brewery, it wasn't too long before the first dragonflies appeared. I'd guess they were Common Darters (12),  constantly on the wing and all managing to evade the camera. Luckily I was more successful with this Male Brown Hawker resting briefly on nettles along the canal pathway.   

A brief wander, with more pausing than wandering took us almost as far as  Forge locks before returning, enjoying numerous sightings of Common Blue and Blue Tailed damselflies along the way.

 

Allotment wildlife

Come the weekend I frequently find myself torn between spending time on the allotment or venturing further afield. More often than not the allotment takes second place in favour of pastures new or maybe not so new but certainly requiring less physically demanding activity. So opting for some much needed allotment time I enjoyed a few hours gardening and was rewarded with some lovely butterfly sightings, resulting in a new high of 6 species on the plot in one day.


The first visitor to appear was this Ringlet, coming to rest on a comfrey leaf. Later we counted three Ringlets chasing each other, the next one looks fresher than the first and settled in view after flitting around the Raspberry canes. Green Veined Whites were on the wing throughout the day.

In my corner plot, where it meets the perimeter fence we've let the brambles grow in a bid to deter some of our more destructive and unwelcome local visitors. Its a mix of grasses, brambles, hawthorn, climbing rose, thistles and comfrey, which combine to create a pretty sturdy green barrier and prime real estate for wildlife which seems to be working.

Next to appear was this Red Admiral that spiralled in over the hedgerow, significantly bigger, bolder and brighter than the Ringlets.

This Comma initially investigated the brambles before settling on bare earth.

One of three Large Skippers, checking out the comfrey and bramble flowers.

A Robin, fresh from a refreshing bath perched on a post to inspect a patch of newly turned soil before swooping down to pick up a mouthful of insects.

A Small Tortoiseshell basks in the sunshine.

Its the first time Ive noticed Damselflies in our stream near the entrance to the allotments. Its great to see the stream turn into a real wildlife magnet and I'm looking forward to see how it progresses.

Staveley

The Yorkshire Wildlife Reserve at Staveley was a nice surprise as I didn't realise the scale of the reserve, it comprises a lagoon, woodland, grassland and shallow ponds, and covers approximately 40 hectares. The 2 hides overlooking the water were locked at the time of visiting but it didn't hamper our enjoyment of the area.

We spotted 8 Meadow Brown, I was confused about the identity of this first one until it revealed the front underwing.

A Small Tortoiseshell landed to feed on Red Clover and gave great views of both its upper and underwing. Other butterflies included 10 Ringlets, 6 Small Skippers, 6 Speckled Wood.

Its a good time for wildflowers in bloom, including one of my favourites, this Field Scabious Knautia arvensis.

At one of the ponds I watched three Damselflies ovipositing in a relatively small area within close proximity to each other. Unfortunately the pics didn't come out too well but I did manage to salvage this shot which shows two close together.

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)