May Damselflies and Butterflies from 2022 Survey

 Added to the 27th May Survey (previous post) are the insects seen:

Butterflies:

Two Speckled Woods basking on a leaf, two Small White, three Large White, a House Sparrow unsuccessful in its attempt to catch one; too many bees to count everywhere on brambles in the sun on the river banks, a Holly Blue, two Green-veined Whites, and a Comma butterfly. There were large numbers of Hoverflies, most over grasses on the embankment slopes.

Damselflies:

In addition there was a fantastic mix of the two most prevalent Damselflies here seen emerging from the river and others chasing over the surface, hunting insect prey or basking on leaves on the banks in the sun. These were Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies (six male and three females) and Banded Demoiselle Damselflies. (one male and two females). Most of the males were low down on river perches ie twigs and branches following small insects eg midges with their large eyes and flying up to grab the prey and return to a perch. Females were seen further away on bank-side leaves or flying over grasses.

These are not the typical pond dragonflies but are river specialists. Here, having two rivers providing different habitats, they can fly to areas close by to locate optimum habitats. One was seen chasing a Large Red damselfly.

The day of the survey was not the first time the damselflies had been seen this spring. They were present on the river on 17th May, a fine warm day, with two Red Kites sailing above.

A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly (no demarcated 'bands' on the wings)

There were several other males but with with clearly demarcated  'banded' wings which refused to remain still, being actively aggressive towards other males. These are simply called Banded Demoiselle damselflies.

A female Banded Demoiselle Damselfly warming up on a leaf further from the water.

The females are not visibly  'Banded' but have quite fine greenish wings with a metallic green body and a white false wing spot near the end of each wing. There is a photo of two perched on leaves in the previous post. They favour large flat leaves facing the sun, such as Nettle or Bramble.

These will not be present in polluted waters.

After May showers - survey for 27th May 2022

 Friday 27th May 2022 was a bright, fine day with a slight breeze and dry after slight drizzle the day before. There was some noise from the nearby construction site. The landscape over all was brilliant green with all trees now in leaf. Rosa Canina was flowering everywhere with abandon, arching fronds and shoots climbing vertically through tree branches. Hazel is fast-growing this year, likewise nettles, springing up, taking over from Cow Parsley and providing the best food for for many butterfly caterpillars.The winged seeds of Field Maple trees were already clearly visible and looking closely, small apples were appearing after profuse blossom had finished on each tree. Young brambles were coming into leaf covering the old woody branches from last year, which had held very few fruits. There were reassuring numbers of midges and other insects. Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) with its small deep blue flowers and white centres was flowering in shady grassy areas of the embankments and buttercups were still numerous in the sun. It was good to see that very small fruits were appearing on the Blackthorn - hopefully there will be sufficient rain this year to produce more food for our winter migrants such as Redwing and Fieldfare.

Today House Sparrows were collecting insects for young nestlings amongst the fruit trees and hedgerows (83) in most dry and sunny areas along the riverside whilst Chiffchaffs (19) were now largely hidden by leaf cover but still calling and well distributed. Goldfinches (32) were singing in several groups mostly hidden in thickets and tall hedges - they prefer medium-height habitat within easy take-off locations. A call now seldom heard was that of the Chaffinch with 3 present, which is more than on some days in recent times - there were no Greenfinches seen on this survey. Blue ts (10 and Great ts (8) were present, almost all still nesting, some of the latter calling loudly and others seen drying out in the sun after bathing in the river shallows not far from where Wrens (15) were nesting. Others were calling quite persistently.

Three Dunnock were present, two singing and two Whitethroat were heard in dense wild small trees. Adding to the diverse songs were Blackbirds (14), Robins (13) (many more were silent nesting birds), and two Song Thrushes but today the song of Blackcaps was the most impressive (9), mostly from perches in the riverbank Willows and with (2) females seen but silent. There were 9 Long-tailed ts in all, with three juveniles calling and perching together in the branches in an area where there are perfect conditions for foraging fo insects. The tall tree trunks attracted not only these birds but three Goldcrests and a Grey Wagtail with two juveniles (3 total) which flew off down to the steep river bank. Elsewhere, most foraging on grass were 31 Starlings, many of them very noisy juveniles. In the old Oaks a Nuthatch called briefly whilst not far away two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen with one calling and a single one was seen flying across (total 3). A Green Woodpecker was visible high up in an old Oak. Six Magpies were present in the trees. Woodpigeons were present as usual (25) with several nesting. A sparrowhawk flew fast across the trees, just missing a Goldfinch whilst a Common Buzzard flew over the distant earthworks. Only one Herring Gull was seen and only two Carrion Crows.

 

Good News for the river

A first sighting of Damselflies was in May

These were seen on the day of this survey, 27th May 2022

Here are two freshly emerged and warming up on Bramble leaves on the river bank.

More to follow on these in the next post.