July Hot News

1 July--Darry Sutcliffe reports Emperors, Black-tailed Skimmer, Blue-tailed Damselflies, Scarce Chaser, Four-spotted Chaser, Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue and Red-eyed Damselflies around the Nene and fishing pits at Nine Arches Bridge, Thrapston.

3 July--At Thrapston Town Lake and the Nene the following were recorded by Darryl: Emperor, Hairy Dragonfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Scarce Chaser, and the usual damselflies.

At Holcot Pond, Pitsford Nature Reserve, Graham Bentley saw Four-spotted Chaser, Brown Hawker, many Emerald Damselflies, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser and many Azure Damselflies.

At Salcey Forest, Graham saw Broad-bodied Chaser, Brown Hawker and plenty of the usual damselflies.

4 July- Returning from the dentist, I stopped off at the Nene between Ringstead and The Addingtons in Search of Scarce Chaser, which have not yet been recorded this far down stream. In amongst hundreds of Banded Demoiselle, Red-eyes, Common Blues and Blue-tailed Damselflies a few Emperors hawked along the margins and about 6 male Scarce Chaser appeared. Photo below shows a male with the characteristic mating scares in his abdomen.

7 July--Graham Bentley has recorded the year's first Ruddy Darter at Holcot pond, Pitsford Nature Reserve. From Graham's photo below, the colouration of this male suggests it  is a few days old.

10 July--Despite the windy weather, there were plenty of White-legged Damselflies oviposting on the River Ise. Banded Demoiselle and a single female Emperor looking for a mate or an oviposting site were also present. The photo below shows a male Banded Demoiselle wing-flapping to ward off encroaching male White-legs.

10-17 July--A total of 6 Southern Hawker have emerged from my garden pond this week. One didn't make it one windy morning, and we found its body in the water.

13 July--While visiting  Billing Mill (SP812611), Darryl Sutcliffe recorded the first Scarce Chaser to hit the Northampton area. This is several km from the nearest colony at Ringstead. Also seen, male & female Emperor, 2 Brown Hawker, Banded Demoiselle, Red-eye, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies.

24 July--At Ravensthorpe, Mark Piper has recorded the year's first Small Red-eyed Damselfly, with a single male. Also count of 138 Emerald Damselfly, 51 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 4 Emperor, 1 Four-spotted Chaser, 8 Black-tailed Skimmer, 16+ Ruddy Darter in addition to Common Blue Damselflies, Azure Damselflies and Common Darters.

Mark made a gruesome discovery at nearby Hollowell Reservoir. Noisy wingbeats revealed a Brown Hawker in long grass with it's entire abdomen missing below segment 2. The poor creature was still able to perch on grass stems but all attempted flights were in tight circles at ground level only. Watched for several minutes and still robustly clinging to the grass when I left it!

Kevin du Rose reports Lesser Emperor again at Maxey Pits. Kevin saw oviposting here last year, so this may be locally bred. Also seen, 25+ Emperors and hundreds of Black-tailed Skimmer.

27 July--Doug Goddard reports Ruddy Darter at Summer Leys this year, and Emperor, Common Blue, Blue-tailed, Banded Demoiselle at Cottesbrooke Hall estate.

28 July A pond near Weston Mill, yielded Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Blues, Blue-tailed, Red-eyed and one male Small Red-eyed for Doug.