First Adult Dragonfly this Season in my Garden.

Sightings of odonata in my garden this year have been few to date.However today in the bright and hot sunshine this female Broad-bodied Chaser spent sometime perched on several different types of suppport in the flower border.

Season Underway

Yesterday saw the first Large Red Damselfly emerge in my garden.The container on my patio produced this emergent pictured below and was closely followed by another.Meanwhile at my garden pond I saw a first Broad-bodied Chaser flutter away from the pond margin. 

Southern Hawker Visits Garden Pond.

The female Southern Hawker is one of my favourite species and today I was treated to a prolonged observation of this female ovipositing into the mossy banks of my garden pond. There seemed to be a couple of spots that she favoured and repeatedly returned to them.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly Drops In.

 Good to see this female Golden-ringed Dragonfly at my garden pond today. She spent some time at the pond as well as around the garden enjoying the sunny and warm spots. It is not the first time that I have enjoyed the sight of this species in my garden,although the others were all males.

 

Southern Hawker Makes an Appearance.

I was very pleased to observe this male Southern Hawker at my garden pond today.He had emerged it seems a short while ago as I just had time to take a couple of photo's before he took off and headed for cover. 

Large Reds on Catchup.

 It seems that this season the emergence of Large Red Damselflies has been up to two weeks later than usual. However now that the summer weather is with us for a while I have had many teneral Large Reds in my garden.These have come from my pond and a container that has produced Large Reds for a couple of years now.The photos below show a female emerging from the container.

 

First Dragonfly Drops In.

Although  I am still awaiting the first sight of a damselfly from my garden pond this year, I was delighted to see this female Broad-bodied Chaser in the flower border outside my back door today. This sunny border has always been a favourite spot for dragonflies and she spent some time there in the warm sunshine.

 

First One of the Season.

 The first activity at my garden pond was today when this male Broad-bodied Chaser was observed just emerged from the water. It is not often that a Chaser is seen prior to the usual damselflies.

Summer Dragonflies in the Garden.

Dragonfly sightings seem to have been somewhat meagre this season.Therefore I was pleased to see this male Migrant Hawker in my garden yesterday.The other species predominent at the moment is the Common Darter that has spread itself throughout the garden.At my pond all is quiet with a male Common Darter on station,whereas the once common Azure Damselfly is all but gone.

Broad-bodied Chasers Take Over the Garden.

Over the last few days Broad-bodied Chasers have been very active in and around my garden pond. More than one female have oviposited in the pond with males visiting and taking station close by. This immature male in particular has spent some time in the sunny flower border  outside my back door and as can be seen is maturing.

 

More Broad-bodied Chasers.

With the visit of two female Broad-bodied Chasers to my garden pond  a couple of days ago,it is not surprising that today a first male Chaser spent some time at the pond. Although perhaps not fully mature this male is no doubt on the lookout for females.

  

First Broad-bodied Chaser of the Season.

We are currently enjoying a period of warm,sunny weather and the dragonflies are responding with plenty of activity at my garden pond. Apart from the Large Red Damselflies there were at least two Broad-bodied Chasers  seen today in the garden. Both were female and they spent some time in sunny spots and at the pond.

Garden Large Red's.

Since a first sighting of a Large Red Damselfly in Bouldnor Forest on the 8th of April,the weather has been cool and windy.However today the brisk winds have gone and that has allowed the temperatures to rise in the spring sunshine. As a result the first damselfly was observed in my Freshwater garden this morning. This immature male Large Red probably emerged from the pond next door seeking a warm sunny spot.

Another Golden Opportunity.

My garden pond has attracted  many common damselflies this season and more recently the always reliable  Common Darter. However today I was very pleased to see this male Golden-ringed Dragonfly. This is the first time that I have recorded this species at the pond. He spent some time hanging around and making  numerous short flights over the pond.

Return of the Emperor.

With renewed activity at the garden pond this season following a clog clearout,it was encouraging to see a female Emperor Dragonfly taking plenty of time to ovipost into the Frogbit.

Garden Pond Welcomes Back it's Visitors.

In my first post  of 2023 I mentioned that my garden pond had become clogged with vegetation leading to a substantial decline in dragonfly activity. Therefore over the winter I performed a clearout of plants and now  the pond boasts open water with marginal reed,cotton grass and frogbit Hydrocharis morsus-ranae. The latter is much used by ovipositing damselflies and I have noted  a lot of egg laying by Large Red  and Azure Damselflies over the last few weeks.

For the first time in some years this male Broad-bodied Chaser took up station at the pond today and over the last fortnight I have recorded several female Chasers ovipositing into the open water.

Large Red's Now Emerging.

Several Large Red Damselflies have appeared in my garden, emerging not only from my garden pond but also from an established pond next door. The following photo shows one such immature that was seen today.

My pond was created in 2010 and over that time it had become clogged with many pond plants. It seems that this has led to much less activity  regarding dragonflies as well as damselflies. Therefore over the winter most of the plants were thinned and cleared and now the photograph below shows a rather bare looking pond. However, several bunches of Hornwort have been added and the  Frogbit has again returned. Both are good oxygenators and popular with the wildlife.

Another Migrant Hawker Drops In.

Dragonfly sightings around my garden pond have been meagre  this season, so I was very pleased to spot a Migrant Hawker today flying deliberately about the garden. This was not the first individual of this species to be seen however, as on the 24th July a male made a brief appearance in my front garden. Today's  female spent some time flying around with the occasional stop in the sunshine. It can be seen that the appendage is shorter than one would expect in this species. That is because it has been broken.

   

New Arrival.

There was no doubt that this particular female Large Red emerged from my garden pond today. She was found clinging to the reed stem with the larval case a few inches below. I hope that it is the  first of many to emerge from the pond this season.

    

Garden Pond See's First Damselfly of the Year.

At my pond today was the first damselfly to be seen in the garden this year. A female Large Red Damselfly was spotted sitting on a bamboo leaf and with no evidence of it emerging from my pond I wonder if she came from the established pond next door. Either way, a welcome sight.