Still pretty slow out there

No new Hairys emerged at Ditchford and I could only find one emerging Common Blue Damselfly. The chilly spell, which is now at an end apparently has certainly pushed things back a bit. Still, this coming week has promises of better, warmer weather and I am expecting a surge in emergence!

PS, don't forget my new facebook group where you can sign up and post your own photos and sightings.

A chilly spell

With arctic weather blowing around the county, I decided to take a walk around Ditchford Lakes this lunchtime in my shorts and t-shirt!. I found 4 Hairy Dragonfly exuviae and two emergent Common Blue Damselflies. No Hairy adults were in evidence, so I guess they may have emerged over the weekend or at least yesterday. We are still showing a slow start compared to other counties, and the warmer weather predicted for later this week should see more emergees.

Hairy Dragonfly exuvia

The 2017 season starts (at last)

I've been following the emergence of several species in other counties with some jealousy over the last few weeks, where Large Reds, Hairys, Downy Emeralds, Variables, and Four-spots have all been have seen. Despite some searching I haven't been able to find anything, so we are way behind others and have some catching up to do.

Luckily, I received an email from Doug Goddard that Pete Sharpe found a Large Red in Castle Ashby gardens on 20 April, marking the first record in Northants. At last!

I went out on 22 April to Yardley Chase and found around 20 Large Reds, some emerging and some taking their first flights. I was lucky enough to find this female emerging in a good spot to capture. The sun was quite variable, and it was great to watch, lying flat out in the damp pond margins.

I have created a facebook group to promote Northants Dragonflies, so if any blog readers are on facebook please join the group and post sightings and photos. This blog will mirror what's on facebook and both will run side-by-side.