Found Susan!

We've been trying to find scarce blue-tailed damselflies three times this past month, at three different sites in the New Forest, but without success. The title of my blog post was a play on the title of the 1985 movie 'Desperately Seeking Susan'.

We decided to go back to Roundeye Hill for one more attempt, especially given it was far less windy than last time we went there. Although it was mostly cloudy, the sun did show its face every once in a while.

When the sun came out, we saw several common darters and several keeled skimmers.

In terms of damselflies, we first saw a few small red damsels, and then, a little bit later, a blue-tailed damsel. Blue-tailed, not scarce blue-tailed ...

And then, I spotted a bright orange damselfly! Could this be an immature 'aurantiaca' scarce blue-tailed damsel female?

A little later, in the same general area, another damsel, with no striping or other pattern on the thorax .... mature scarce blue-tailed damsel female??

In both cases, the damsels fit the picture in our field guide almost perfectly, but, never having seen the species, I didn't want to jump to conclusions .... 

We did see a third damsel, which almost got caught by a keeled skimmer seconds after we spotted her. The skimmer swooped down as the damsel took off from the heather, hit it, but couldn't grab it, and the damsel ended up in the water. While I was sacrificing my dry feet in the bog, she managed to free herself from the water and settled nearby. 

Coming home, I posted the pictures in the British Dragonflies and Damselflies Facebook group, and, yes, my hopes were confirmed: all scarce blue-tailed damsels!

Susan has been found!!

Here are today's tables, including the first new damseldragonfly species of the year (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Broughton Down

When we went butterflying at Old Winchester Hill a week and a bit ago, we saw a record number of species (21!), but not some of the Hill's specialities: adonis blue and silver-spotted skipper. Now we have seen (1st generation) adonis blues this year at Martin Down. but no silver-spotted skippers ...

Rather than return to Old Winchester Hill, as we have done in previous years, we decided to explore a new (for us) site, which was also said to have populations of adonis blues and silver-spotted skippers: Broughton Down. 

By far the commonest species was brown argus. We saw anything between very tatty individuals to very fresh-looking ones.

Lots of common blues, several chalk hill blues, but not a single adonis blue, though ...

When we sat down for lunch, halfway up a hill: a silver-spotted skipper!! Very uncharacteristically, it posed for photos for something like ten minutes before it flew off. 

Despite the mostly sunny weather and the many brown argus, common blue and a few other species, it did feel a bit like the beginning of the end of the butterfly season (just a few gatekeepers, for instance). So here's possibly the final butterfly table for the 2023 season (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Desperately seeking SB-tD ...

The one damselfly species which breeds in the New Forest and which we have never seen is scarce blue-tailed damselfly. Asking for recommendations for sites for this species in the New Forest on the British Dragonflies and Damselflies Facebook group resulted in three suggestions for sites. So we set out to explore those three sites over the last week and a bit. 

First of all, Ipley Stream, near the footbridge. The weather was quite cold and windy, and we saw no damselfly activity there. So we decided to cut across to the pond on Dibden Bottom, from there head for Rushbush Pond and then follow the Ipley stream back to the footbridge. The only common damselfly species was the emerald damsel; plenty of males and females around the Dibden Bottom pond.

Rushbush Pond was quite uncharacteristically pretty devoid of odo's, but we did see a few blue-tailed damsels. 

No SB-tD, though!

Then Latchmore Brook and the boggy areas immediately north of the stream which we visited last week. Twelve damseldragon species in all, including three species of hawkers (brown, migrant, southern), small red damsels, small red-eyed damsels, ...

... and blue-tailed damsels. 

We did see an unusual blue-tailed damsel, which raised our hopes for a while, until it was confirmed as an andromorph female blue-tailed damselfly. 

No SB-tD ...

Third and final site, today, was Roundeye Hill, especially the ditch which runs to the Beaulieu river. 

Once again, the weather wasn't very good for damseldragonflies, as it was quite windy. The sun did show its face every once in a while, though. We saw a beautiful demoiselle and a golden-ringed dragonfly at the river, and plenty of common darters and several keeled skimmers along the ditch. In terms of damselflies, just a single small red damsel and a few blue-tailed damsels. 

So for the third time running, 'common' blue-tailed damsels at every site, but no SB-tD ...

We'll definitely try at least the Roundeye Hill ditch again next year, but earlier in the season, as scarce blue-tails were seen there in decent numbers in July. We'll keep desperately seeking SB-tD until we find them!

No tables for this blog post, by the way, as it covers multiple sites and dates

Old Winchester Hill

Old Winchester Hill is a site we visit every year, and often multiple times during the butterfly season.  Two years ago, we saw 19 species there, the highest number of butterfly species we ever saw on a single day. 

So back to Old Winchester Hill we went again, for the first time this year. 

Partially cloudy, but the sun came through regularly, and the butterflies were flying around. Of course, all the usual suspects were active.

When the sun was out the 'chalkies' came out as well in good numbers! As well as plenty of brown argus and common blues. But no adonis blue ...

And we also saw a few small tortoiseshells.

Maybe the highlight of the day: a single dark green fritillary posing nicely for pictures.

No silver-spotted skippers, though; like for the adonis blues, it may just have been a tad too early for them. 

Focussing totally on butterflies, we weren't even thinking of odo's, until a single golden-ringed dragonfly made its appearance.

So how did we do in terms of number of species? We broke the record of two years ago: 21! And that's after seeing a record number of damseldragonflies yesterday; two records in two days!

Here's our longest ever butterfly table (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):

Thursley Common

When we went to Thursley Common a little over two years ago, we weren't aware the boardwalks had been destroyed by fire. So we could only skirt the edges of the main bog, but still had a good day. 

Obviously, we vowed to return once the boardwalks were restored, which was done earlier this year. So off to Thursley we went!

Very nice to see the boardwalks and they really allow you to get close to the action. 

And not only that: they also offer dragonflies a nice spot to land and sit on. We saw loads of common darter doing just that.

And also saw plenty of black darters (first time we saw them this year). 

Fun to see our smallest dragonfly bully other dragonflies, especially common darters!

Black-tailed and keeled skimmers also made use of the boardwalks.

In terms of damsels, lots of common blues and emeralds and several small red damsels.

And we saw a few small red-eyed damsels around a pool at the edge of the bog.

We really enjoyed going up and down the boardwalks, and seeing the damsels and dragons up close in the middle of their natural habitat. 

Upon returning to the car park, the 'Moat' then gave us a few brown hawkers and a southern hawker. In all, we saw a record number of species: 15!

So, without further ado, here are today's tables; not many butterfly species, but the longest ever damseldragon table (one = 1; few = 2-4; several = 5-9; many = 10+):