Orthetrum brunneum or Orthetrum coerulescens?

Or to laymen like me a Southern Skimmer or Keeled Skimmer.Both very similar,especially in the Mediterranean regions where the male Keeled Skimmer is all blue in colour as is the male Southern.

However there are several differences which can separate the species on close inspection.

The following photos were taken on a recent trip to Lefkada,Greece and show male and female Keeled Skimmers sp. anceps.

A Beautiful Day.

It was a glorious day today with lots of sunshine and the Beautiful Demoiselles certainly responded at Shalfleet Stream with feverish activity.There were many aerial combat flights between males over sunny spots of the stream.The courtship flight is particularly impressive with a male hovering and circling the stationary female.

A lovely damselfly species in movement,colour,and appearance.

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First Broad-bodied Chaser of the Season..

With the sunny weather continuing on the Island things have now taken off with good numbers of Large Red and Azure Damselflies at my garden pond.They are all very busy pairing up and this morning the first Broad-bodied Chaser arrived at the pond.This year it is a female so hopefully she will stick around to await a male.

 A short while later I noticed that the female had been replaced by a male,so I assume that the female has now departed for ponds anew.

Dropping in to use the Facilities

The hotel we stayed at on the Greek Island of Lefkada recently has a very inviting swimming pool.On several occasions while we enjoyed it some dragonflies also decided to drop by.

Perhaps the most exotic was a mature male Violet Dropwing.This widespread African species has colonised parts of  Europe around the Mediterranean coast over the last forty or so years.This male would have been a yellowish colour on emergence,turning orange and red before attaining their final violet colour.

This female Keeled Skimmer dragonfly also made use of a poolside lounger.

Blue Featherleg

Or White-legged Damselfly as it is known in the UK and a very attractive damselfly.The males are blue with feathery hind legs which they display in courtship to the mainly green females.However the immature females can be found in the creamy-white colour with brownish thorax,known as the form lactea.

The following photos were taken on the Greek Island of Lefkada where I came across a small colony near to a sheltered stream in the corner of a field.

Scarce Chaser

The Scarce Chaser is not a dragonfly normally seen on the Isle of Wight,although sightings have been made here a year or so ago.

A holiday to the Greek Island of Lefkada  a few days ago proved to be my first look at this species.On the fringes of Nidhri where streams and ditches reach the coast from the mountains I came across several Scarce Chasers.A treat for me indeed.

Azure Damselfly now on the wing

With the sun shining this afternnon I made a visit to Clamerkin NT pond and to a collection of small ponds very close by.I was very pleased to encounter several Large Red and Azure Damselflies around the pond and a very good number of the latter at the nearby ponds.

A Struggle for the Large Red.

After the brief period of summer weather it has again become cool and rather autumnal.Not a good omen for the emerging spring species.As a result of the poor weather we have had to endure over the last few months, sightings of dragonflies have been minimal.

Today after a bright start the wind and rain are back and this Large Red was found on a bench beside my garden pond in desperate need of some warmth.If things do not improve soon we could see a disastrous start to the season for our odonata.

Despite a brisk and cold wind today,Monday the 13th,the sun shone on and off  and enticed out a pair of Large Reds.During the morning a male appeared and was closely followed by a female.

Fingers crossed for lots more of these and hopefully some newly emerged species in the next few days,weather permitting.

First Damselfly on the year at my Garden Pond.

Today the first damselfly appeared at my garden pond.This was two weeks later than the first Large Red  at this location in 2012.However the weather has no doubt had a say in emergence times.The damselfly spent some time on this Marsh Marigold plant in the warm sunshine.

My pond is about 2 metres by 3 metresThis is a third season of the pond and the first when the Large Red can emerge from it as this species  generally has a two year cycle from egg to adult.It is likely that the above speciman originated from a nearby pond as I could see no evidence of it coming from mine.

Another Large Red,this time a female discovered in a flower bed in the garden on the 6th May.Soon to be seen in good numbers I am sure. 

The Reds Are First Again

Here on the Isle of Wight the spring weather has at last arrived and the first damselflies are on the wing.The prolonged cold  snap of March and April is now hopefully over and today I was fortunate enough to observe six Large Red Damselflies flutter away from the pond at Clamerkin NT during my brief midday visit.

Not all  newly emerged damselflies fared well as can be seen by the second photograph.