Last Dragonfly Walk of the Year at Parc Slip

Held the last Dragonfly Walk for the public of the year at Parc Slip this afternoon. We were very lucky with the weather- a dismal start to the day but the sun has been shining all afternoon!

A good group of 7 enthusiastic people wanting to learn more about odonata came along and we managed to spot emerald damselflies, lots of common darters, a female common hawker and male and female southern hawkers, despite the wind. Already looking forward to starting these walks up again next year.

Rose

Lavernock Point NR & Cosmeston Lakes 24/08/2014

Walked around Lavernock for about 40 min before I saw my first Dragonfly a female Common Darter, nothing else around not even at the pools. Saw another Three before leaving to try my luck at Cosmeston.
Went to the pool too the left of the visitor centre and was supprised to find just a few Blue-tailed Damsels there, further along the boardwalk I did see One male Common Darter.

Walked over to the Dragonfly pond seeing a couple more Common Darters on the way only to find nothing flying there either. The weather was not that cold and yes it was overcast but not bad enough to stop anything flying. Although on the way back I did manage to see two Migrant Hawkers.

Park Slip Today 17/08/2014

A walk around Park Slip today and apart from a few Blue-tailed Damselflies near the Visitor Centre the only thing on the wing were Common Darters.

Kittle -- Gower

Emerald damsel.. first for me

And can someone please identify this one for me thanks

Penallta Park Today 13/08/2014

Although a bit windy there was some action at the horse-shoe ponds today, there was still alot of Emerald Damsels about with some in tandem and copulating also a few Blue-tailed Damsels about. Common Darters were plentyful with some in tandem and ovipositing, on one pool I found this Common Hawker female ovipositing and have a bit of trouble getting about with her wings in such a bad state.

I did manage to find One Black Darter.

On the last pond a patroling Emperor was having a battle with a Male Broad-bodied Chaser, the Emperor flew off leaving the Chaser to the pond.

On a final note this may be the last records I submit from this site and possible Park Cwm Darren as Caerphilly Council have decided to spoil things by installing Pay&Display parking m/cs at both sites.
Park Cwm Darren may still be ok as there are toilets and a cafe there but Penallta has nothing to offer other than it being a big toilet area for dogs.

Penallta & Parc Cwm Darren Today 03/08/2014

A bit wet and windy at Penallta horse-shoe ponds this morning, the only things around the ponds where Common Darters and some Emerald Damsels.

So I moved on to P.C.D. where the weather had cleared up a bit but still not alot on the wing at the new Dragonfly pond. Again there were Emeralds with some in tandem and a few Azure Damsels.

But then something caught my eye in the reeds a new emergence, possible a Migrant Hawker?(correct me if I am wrong) with the Exuvia close by.

Parc Slip New Scrapes

Managed to get some odonata spotting in whilst doing some maintenance in the new scrapes field at Parc Slip yesterday.

A solitary broad-bodied chaser, black-tailed skimmers, an emperor, plenty of darters (no bins to get close enough to I.D. them), emerald damsels, blue-tails, common blue and azures. The icing on the cake was a lovely male scarce blue-tail damsel and two bright orange immature females. Excuse the very poor photo- taken on my phone- but you can at least see how orange she is! 

Next sunny day, we will be heading into the new scrapes field to see what else has colonised.

Rose