Yateley Common

We've been really successful with damsels and dragons recently, but only went out once to focus on butterflies, so time to refocus our attention. We picked Yateley Common for two reasons: one is because it was mentioned in our wee Butterfly Walks booklet as a prime site for silver-studded blues (which would be a new species for us); and two, because the book also mentioned several ponds with lots of odonate activity. So if the 'June Gap' isn't yet over, we can still enjoy damsels and dragons.

As we started walking, we did see a few meadow browns, and the wooded areas had several speckled woods fluttering around. Plus we saw an undetermined white far away. But then the butterfly activity pretty much ground to a halt. We didn't see any silver-studded blues, even in the area which in the booklet was specifically said to be 'silver-studded blue country'. Whereas we were expecting to see heathland there, the habitat was dominated by the three b's: birch, bracken, bramble, with only the occasional clump of heather ..... It does appear that the habitat has become far less suitable for silver-studded blues than when the booklet was published five years ago ...

Butterfly activity didn't completely come to a stop, it turned out; read on to the end ...

The three ponds we visited indeed gave us a good selection of damselfly and dragonfly species; eight in all. No new species, but it was sure nice to see several emperors, and red-eyed damselflies again, the latter of which we saw for the first time last weekend. 

And a black-tailed skimmer was willing to pose for us.

As we almost got back to the car, we walked past a large bramble bush, and saw a beautiful demoiselle flitting about.

Managed to get a nice close-up shot of that beauty ...

... and then noticed a small orange-y butterfly fluttering higher up in the bush, and then a second one. Turned out to be large skippers, a new species for us!

So we did get our new species for the day after all, even though it was one we hadn't thought about.

Three tables (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+)!

Mind the gaps ...

This is our current collection of butterfly guides:

A field guide with mostly photos and a guide with drawings (by Richard Lewington, of course), both for Britain. A quick ID chart. A (Dutch) guide for northwestern Europe. And a guide for the whole of Europe.

And this is our current collection of dragonfly guides:

A field guide with mostly photos, for Britain. A quick ID chart. And a guide for the whole of Europe. 

You do notice the obvious gaps, right?

Problem solved!

Eyeworth Pond and 'Chilworth Lake'

Forecast for today was for dark cloud cover and occasional light rain, so we went out to Eyeworth Pond not expecting much in terms of damsels and dragons ...

As we arrived, there was zilch odonate activity. But soon after, the cloud cover broke, it became noticeably lighter and warmer, and very quickly the damsels came out to play! And they did so in large numbers ...

First we saw many common blue damselflies, and then, sitting on a floating feather, our very first red-eyed damselfly, a new species for us!

It didn't take long before more and more red-eyed damsels came out, with most of their mating and fighting concentrated on the water lily leaves. 

A few blue-tailed damselflies also showed themselves. In terms of dragonflies, we saw a few downy emeralds, a broad-bodied chaser, and an emperor.

Buoyed by the unexpected success, we decided to quickly pop by the lake in the Chilworth Conservation Area. We'd been there when we saw our very first butterfly of the year, when it was too early for any damsels or dragons, and had promised ourselves to come back later in the year. 

Unfortunately, the cloud cover and light rain had returned, and we only saw a single downy emerald, a few blue-tailed damselflies, and a single azure damselfly. We'll be back when the weather is better!

Today's odonate 'harvest' (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+): 

Thursley Common

Thursley Common is mentioned in several field guides and on several web-sites as a haven for dragonflies, and it's just over an hour's drive away for us ....

The large pond near the car park ('The Moat') gave us several downy emeralds (new species for Irma) and a few hairy dragonflies, as well as the usual collection of damselfly species (azure, blue-tailed, large red).

Unfortunately, the boardwalks going into the boggy area beyond were closed, due to what appears to have been a large out-of-control fire, so we had no choice but to skirt the edges of the bog. 

At least there were still some smaller and larger ponds which we could get close to!

And, with no exception, each of these ponds had at least a handful four-spotted chasers, the larger ones were teeming with them. By far the commonest dragonfly today! I had to wait for a long time before I could photograph one settling, as they were very active chasing each other and creating future four-spotted chasers.

The heather and gorse bushes a bit away from the water had several keeled skimmers ... 

... as well as a few common blue damselflies.

And we also saw a new species: a small red damselfly!

The highest number of "odo" species on a single day for us: 11! And we definitely need to come back next year, when the boardwalks are (hopefully) accessible again.

As to butterflies, just a pair of brimstones ....

Here the tables (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+).

In and around Southampton

When I posted the video I took of the beautiful demoiselles we saw at Crockford Bottom on the 'Dinosaur on your Window Sill' Facebook group, a former student of mine gave me information on where to find both banded and beautiful demoiselles in Southampton. With the weather being perfect for hunting butterdamseldragonflies today, we decided to visit a few places around Southampton, starting with Monks Brook.

Several species of damselflies active, including common blue, azure and blue-tailed.

And we did indeed see demoiselles! Mostly banded, but also a few beautiful. Thanks again for the tip; you know who you are!

Next stop was Wildern LNR, a green oasis right in the centre of Hedge End. We visited all three of the ponds, and Coltsfoot Pond proved most productive: literally clouds of damselflies, mostly azure, but also blue-tailed and large red. Plus a few broad-bodied chasers.

Final stop: Southampton Common. Lots of azure damselflies, plus several blue-tailed, at Ornamental Lake and clouds of common blue damselflies active on the Boating Lake. In terms of dragonflies, we saw a few hairy dragonflies, a few broad-bodies chasers, ...

... and a few black-tailed skimmers, both males and females; a new species for us!

Even though the weather was perfect for butterflies, we only saw a handful .... we're clearly in the June Dip ...

The usual tables again below (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+). Putting all three sites together, today was our best "odo" day ever, with nine species.

Ornamental Lake, Southampton Common

Working from home means I'm 10 minutes walk away from the Common, and with the weather being absolutely gorgeous today, I thought I'd pop out for a bit around lunch time, and see what Ornamental Lake has to offer in terms of damsels and dragons.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by several large red damselflies and several blue-tailed damselflies.

But the vast majority of damsels flying around were of the blue variety .... question was: azure or common blue? As I'm still very new to id-ing damselflies, especially blue damselflies, my only option was to try and take pictures of them when they settled, and then zoom in on the pictures in the hope of being able to see the key traits separating the two species. It turned out that most of the blue damsels I managed to take a picture of were azure damselflies, a new species for me! 

Dragonflies didn't disappoint either. First a few broad-bodied chasers, and then the highlight of the day: a few downy emeralds, also new for me! Absolutely gorgeous animals in the bright sunshine, with their metallic-green eyes, bronze-green thorax, and sparkling gold abdomen. And just as I was about to leave, I spotted a hawker flying over the lake, which turned out to be a hairy dragonfly (new species #3!).

The two tables of today's lunch time (one  = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Cadmans Pool & Ocknell Pond

Stoney Cross Plain is the site where we usually practice sport kite pair-flying (if you're interested in these much larger flying objects, check out our web-site).

Following our kite-flying practice, we decided to pop by Cadmans Pool and Ocknell Pond quickly. After all, these were just around the corner.

Not much odonate activity: Cadmans Pool had several common blue damselflies flitting about ...

... whereas there were two broad-bodied chaser males chasing each other over Ocknell Pond (they wouldn't settle for a picture).

For completeness, the tables (one  = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):