White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes).
This immature female (form lactae) was one of two individuals recorded on my woodland butterfly transect over the weekend. This individual was fairly close to Flag Pond hiding in the grasses but the other was over 300 metres away perched on a bramble leaf. Apparently it is not unusual to find an immature up to 5 km away from water!
The next two images can only be classed as record shots.
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans).
The females occur in five different colour forms. This individual with violet sides to the thorax would appear to be an immature female (form violacea) which will mature to have either male-type but pale-blue colouration (form typica) or olive green thorax plus a brown S8 (form infuscans).
A male Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas).
Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).
This was the most prominent dragonfly on the wing during my wander around the ponds in Bushy Park with the males (image above) taking a very brief rest in-between patrolling their territories, chasing away other males, whilst looking for a female to mate with.
I eventually located the distinctively coloured teneral / immature, possibly female (image below) hiding deep within the grasses some way away from the water.
I eventually located the distinctively coloured teneral / immature, possibly female (image below) hiding deep within the grasses some way away from the water.
Nature Notes.
