After several days of warm weather, the river water has warmed up. The first good sign is an increase in insects flying above the surface of the water, attracting warblers and other birds hunting for food to feed their young in the nest.
Friday 13th May 2016 - after a dull start the sky soon cleared to give a warm and very sunny day. That afternoon, walking along the river bank, hoping to see butterflies, Damselflies appeared instead.
Obviously freshly emerged during the late morning, they were seen perched on the riverbank vegetation in the sun, drying out their wings. Attempts at flight were brief, just enabling them to move from one leaf to another nearby, wings glistening.
The first seen were Beautiful Demoiselle females, then a Banded Demoiselle males and a
Large Red Damselfly. Others seen briefly were so freshly emerged it was difficult to see at a distance what they were, as immature damselflies can resemble females until they acquire their adult colouring, defining the species.
A fine young male Banded Demoiselle Damselfly, warm and about to fly off the fresh Bramble leaf on the river bank
On a nearby Bramble leaf, an immature female Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly catches the sun.
A larger species, also warming up on a Bramble leaf, a female Large Red Damselfly watches out for passing insects
A long-tailed tit was foraging in the branches overhanging the river, a blackcap sang in chorus with blackbirds, song thrush and a garden warbler.
Orange Tip butterflies were again the most numerous but a Peacock butterfly was seen in the adjacent wild field basking on a natural footpath through the growing grasses and wild plants.
A Peacock butterfly warming on the trodden path.
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