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+):