Damsels & Dragons 2008 Link
13
& 14 November 2007
Two
Common Darters were seen, one on each
day on the outskirts of Shoreham.
6 November
2007
Two
Common Darters were seen, one in the Butterfly
Copse near the Waterworks Road, and the
other over the
lower slopes of Mill
Hill.
4 November
2007
A
Common
Darter settled on a fence post on the
the Pixie Path to Mill
Hill.
29
October 2007
A
few Common Darters
were seen over the Pixie Path and the
lower
slopes of Mill Hill.
18
October 2007
Common
Darters
were very frequently to be seen, notable with over fifty in total over
the Pixie Path and Mill
Hill. A lot of them had greyish-blue abdomens. There was one
Southern
Hawker flying over the
Downs
Link Cyclepath south of the
Toll Bridge.
16
October 2007
There
was a
Southern Hawker
flying over the
Downs
Link Cyclepath south of the
Toll Bridge.
12
October 2007
One
Southern
Hawker and a few Common
Darters
were
seen on the
Downs
Link Cyclepath south of the
Toll Bridge.
1-
8 October 2007
A
few Common
Darters
were
seen every day just about everywhere on the outskirts of Shoreham, the
Adur valley and on the downs.
21 September 2007
18
September 2007
30 July 2007
A Common Darter and Southern Hawker were both seen on and flying over Mill Hill.
27
July 2007
One
Southern
Hawker flew north up Church Street, Shoreham.
A dozen Common Blue Damselflies
and one Ruddy
Darter were all seen immediately over
the Annington Sewer
stream by the Oak tree
at the northern boundary of the Salting's Field.
Adur
Levels
24
July 2007
In
a local Lancing garden with a large Carp pond, an Emperor Dragonfly
stopped to rest on the Privet
hedge I was about to cut. A few minutes later a Common
Darter settled nearby.
24
July 2007
On
the the top long sward of the wildlife meadow north of the upper car park
of Mill Hill, a Common
Blue Damselfly flitted between the tall
herbs. A Common Darter
was silhouetted against the sky from the top of Mill Hill looking south.
17
July 2007
A
Southern
Hawker cruised along the Waterworks
Road.
15
July 2007
A
dozen Common Blue Damselflies,
one Ruddy Darter
and one Southern
Hawker were all the first of the year
for these damselflies and dragonflies. And they were all seen immediately
over the Annington Sewer
stream by the Oak tree
at the northern boundary of the Salting's Field, east of Annington.
Adur
Levels
1 July
2007
My
first Common Darter(dragonfly)
of 2007 was spotted
on a Buddleia
on the Downs Link path south of the Buffer Stop in Shoreham town.
12
June 2007
At
Annington Corner (by the Oak Tree),
I noted about twenty Common
Blue
Damselflies and a handful of Large
Red Damselflies over the stream. A least
one pair of Common
Blue
Damselflies were pairing up, but mostly they
were flitting about.
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They would not stay still for more than a second and then they usually rested briefly deep in amongst the Stinging Nettles.
5 June
2007
A
flash of orange and now there were two female
Broad-bodied
Chasers
(dragonflies),
Libellula
depressa, seen on the southern
part of the Slonk Hill bank over the vegetation
bordering the path.
4 June
2007
My
garden pond (in Portslade) was alive with Blue-Tailed
Damselflies in the morning. My best count
was thirteen. This does not count three immature damselflies that had just
hatched from larvae on the Iris stems. These were still a creamy white
colour.
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3
June 2007
At first it looked like a gigantic wasp, but it was just too big and recognised as a female Broad-bodied Chaser (dragonfly), Libellula depressa, seen on the southern part of the Slonk Hill bank over the vegetation bordering the path. This was my first of the year. In the afternoon two males and another female Broad-bodied Chaser were disturbed on the footpath that runs along the southern part of Frampton's Field. The males have a pale blue abdomen. |
22
May 2007
A
large dragonfly patrolled the bottom scrub
on the lower slopes of Mill
Hill. I could not see what species, but it was not a Broad-bodied
Chaser and it was probably a Hairy
Dragonfly,
Brachytron
pratense, and its appearance fitted.
There was an unidentified blue damselfly over the drainage ditch/stream
to the north of of
Cuckoo's
Corner (TQ 202 067).
May
2007
A
Beautiful
Demoiselle, Calopteryx
virgo, was seen in a Shoreham garden
where there are only very small pools.
I saw my first dragonflies of the year patrolling along a stream north of Cuckoo's Corner (TQ 202 067). Patience was rewarded with a view of what appeared to be a Southern Hawker. Aeshna cyanea. However, David Kitching on UK Dragonflies (Yahoo Group) thinks it was much likely to be a Hairy Dragonfly, Brachytron pratense, and after thinking about the two dragonflies seen (smaller than the familiar Southern Hawker) I feel that this is the correct identification. This is indicated by the early flight time and behaviour as well. This is the most reliable record of the Hairy Dragonfly on these Nature Notes web pages. This is described as a rare species in Sussex, but there appear to be quite widespread and frequent records. It is recorded as Nationally Scarce.
Cheshire Damsels and Dragonflies 2007
1 May 2007
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At first I thought these were Azure Damselflies, Coenagrion puella, but on a second look I was far from sure. The consensus is that these are Azure Damselflies.
Comparison
of pronotums of blue damsels
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