Dragonflies . Comment on my last post.

Pleased to get a prompt response from my friend Chris Chappell: 

"Nice to hear of your success with the dragonflies, Pauline has a similar sized pond and many have emerged, at one point the lily pads were covered in damselfly exuvia."

Chris takes much better photos than we do! However I was pleased we captured the significant few minutes shown I'm my last post taken with a hand held iPhone

Don't forget if you click on the picture it should expand its size.

An excellent photo of a Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum )

 

Male common darter Ham Wall yesterday. Chris Chappell

Dragonflies., from our very own garden pond!

Possibly a Southern hawker ( Aeshna cycnea )

 Just emerged from lava case

 Ready to fly

Some of the more than 30 lava cases recovered this summer from the pond just 2.5m by 1.5m

Curry Rivel Wildlife Survey Group report.

Good year for DRAGONFLIES

We all know and admire the beauty of dragonflies and those of us with garden ponds will have the pleasure of seeing damselflies hovering over the water on sunny days.  This charming species is very ancient, around 300 million years old as fossilised remains have proved.  So, a very successful insect perhaps because in contrast to their beauty they are aggressive, carnivorous predators during their short summer lives.

Dragonflies are recognisable to most of us in two groups - dragonflies and damselflies.  Dragonflies are the larger and stouter and damselflies are smaller and daintier.  When trying to identify them there is one very obvious difference.  When at rest dragonflies keep their wings spread open but damselflies keep them folded together along their backs.  Otherwise they have the same characteristics and only differ in where they hunt and where they tend to lay their eggs. 

 All of them need to be near water but certain dragonflies (known as darters or hawkers) will hunt along hedgerows or at woodland edges.  To catch their prey dragonflies are known to fly as fast as 60 mph!

Eggs are laid in water, mud or in waterside plants.  These eggs hatch into larvae which sometimes remain in their watery birthplaces for several years feeding on all sorts of underwater prey including small fish and frog spawn.  When weather and temperature conditions are just right they emerge, climbing up the stalks of water plants and start to change into their adult form.  Once able to fly they immediate look for mates and start the whole process again but within 2-3 weeks they have completed their work and die.

Dragonflies are usually seen on sunny, warm days when there is plenty of food about but in poor weather they will stay hidden sometimes hanging underneath leaves (perhaps sheltering from our frequent rainfall!).  As with all animal life poor conditions and lack of food sources will affect the survival of dragonflies and indeed there are some that are now giving cause for concern. In fact dragonflies are an indicator species because of their reliance on healthy water courses.  If dragonflies disappear from a watery habitat then there is something wrong with its ecology.

Water pollution is a serious threat which has reduced where control is possible but is still a danger where thoughtless waste disposal continues.

There are some 30 species of dragonfly and 20 species of damselfly in Britain but identification is not easy because they are only visible for a short time and they can fly very fast.  Nowadays with camera phones perhaps it is possible to take a photo for later identification.  There are a few websites devoted to dragonflies e.g. www.british-dragonflies.org.uk  where you can find more information.  Identification is not necessary for most of us to enjoy the sight of a dragonfly with its fragile shimmering wings and striking body colours.  If you find them in your garden you know that you have created a healthy habitat and many other invaluable insects will want to join them.

Local Nature Reserve, Batty Piece, Somerset

A friend has just taken these photos for me showing some of the interesting wildlife to be found there at the moment.

Photographs taken by John Bebbington

Nick Baker on Westhay nature reserve.

If you don't follow the Somerset Wildlife Trust on Facebook you are missing a treat.  Here is a very recent posting with a video clip describing a nature reserve not far from where I live and which I only occasionally visit. Time and other interests make it difficult to keep in touch with the natural world around us but it's a shame if we don't try.  Thanks to Jane for bringing it to our attention!

Viewing this video with Nick Baker taking us on a walk on the reserve is very well put together and gives us an insight into our own local natural world.

Here are links to the Trusts Facebook page and to the video clip

http://www.facebook.com/somersetwildlifetrust?

ref=streamhttp://www.facebook.com/somersetwildlifetrust?ref=stream

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Did you see Nick Baker watching dragonflies being caught by sundews on our Westhay Moor Nature Reserve the other night, on BBC's Inside Out? Don't worry if you missed it, you can watch it again here. Enjoy! It's really great footage! Jane

Inside Out South West: 12/11/2012

www.bbc.co.uk

Nick Baker visits Westhay Moor nature reserve in Somerset, an outstanding haven for wildlife largely created by man.

Like ·  · Share · 422 · about an hour ago · 

• 4 people like this.
• 2 shares
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  Somerset Wildlife Trust Great to see our very own Mark Blake being interviewed as well - explaining how we are conserving the largest surviving fragment of lowland acid mire in the south west. Jane

  about an hour ago · Like
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  Ruth Bartleet This is a lovely film. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Wildflowers at the Olympic Park. Should our traditional nature reserves add non native flowers?

Extract from an  article in the Gurdian Newspaper.

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Click here to see the article  Guardian.co.uk

Matthew Appleby.

If you want to see the big ideas coming out of British horticulture, there's no better – or bigger – showcase than the gardens and meadows of the Olympic Park in Stratford.

The 250-hectare site in east London has been filled with 4,000 trees, 300,000 wetland plants, 15,000 square metres of lawns and more than 150,000 perennial plants, in an ambitious scheme designed to delight visitors to the Games and leave a legacy of a permanent park once the Olympics are over.

First, there are the wildflower meadows, 10 football fields-worth of them, carefully planned and sown to reach their peak just in time for the torch's arrival in east London next Friday, and sporting a suitably Olympic gold colour scheme. Wildflowers are having a moment: sales of cornflowers, field poppies and other pollinator-friendly blooms have tripled this year, influenced by Sarah Raven's TV programme Bees, Butterflies And Blooms, and Chelsea show gardens packed with wispy natives.

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Please read the full article.

Interesting comments about the use of non native species which is not a new feature of the English countryside. Many plants seem to have been introduced many years ago.

This links well with the differing points of view generated by the "Fields of Dreams" in South Petherton which are currently benefiting no doubt from the sunshine. By comparison our 4 acre meadow in Curry Rivel is managed to show off plants and flowers which are native to this part of Somerset. Its a challenging thought to consider changing our policy to deliberately  bring in , say , flowers from South Africa or elsewhere. We have a meeting of our management group and I might ask for opinions on the subject. 

Gardens:wildflowers at the Olympic Park

Monster from the murky Pond

Have'nt got time to write much about photos taken this morning showing  life in our small pond. Add some details later.

Damselfly number two. Azure damselfly. Coenagrion puella

Having got excited about the discovery of a Damselflies in our new pond (12 months old now)  described in my last post then we had another new arrival. This time it appeared clinging to a stem of a pond plant  and looked very new having just  emerged from its nymphal cast which was also close by. It appeared in the sunlight to be  translucent and almost colourless. I've been advised that the colour takes time to develop and that it is likely to be an Azure damselfly. Here is the photo I manged to get leaning over the side of the pond to get close enough.

Pyrrhosoma nymphula and a small wildlife garden

Last year we created a very small pond about 2m long by1m and in its second summer I took some photos today which I'm really pleased with.
Last year the Somerset Wildlife Trust started encouraging members to create a wildlife garden however small and that's what we have done and its great to see it attracting new wildlife. An Orange Tip butterfly also flew by whilst I was taking these shots but didn't stop for me.

Dont forget if you click on the photo it will give you a larger picture.

My guess is that the Damselflie is Pyrrhosma nymphula , Large red damselfly. Later on I saw a pair mating and laying eggs in the pond vegetation which I had added only a week ago!

These two flies came and rested on plants close by. Idents still needed. Any ideas please.

This is not a very good picture but is good enough to illustrate that while watching the damselflies we noticed that this bug climbed up the stem of a plant recently added to help the dragonflies. It sat there in the sun for quite a few minutes aqnd then suddenly whent back into the water and we could see it was a Water Boatman!

and finally, this is a  small sign sent me by the Wildlife Trust which is now proudly displayed on the garden shed. Notice the fly stopped to see what it was all about!

Simon Barnes and the SPNVS

Two weeks on holiday and back home to try and catch up on the world of wildlife conservation and my Blog. Along with numerous emails and post I received my National Trust magazine today. The opinion feature sounded interesting and it was written by Simon Barnes. He wrote “How to be a bad birdwatcher” which I found an easy book to read and useful for a non bird watcher! He wants to start a new campaign to promote, “the Society for the Preservation of Nothing Very Special” or SPNVS for short. I agree with him that it is important to seek to protect living places and living things before they get special. Special usually means rare or endangered. Our four acre meadow could easily be classified by planners or developers as ordinary. Yet unimproved grasslands are already rare in the countryside and so I aim to become a member of the SPNVS.

If you too would like to join go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk, search for the digital NT magazine Autumn 2011 and Simon Barnes article is on page 15. Or of course you could join the NT as a member.

I was pleased to see how our new pond was getting on and of course it is getting on alright in my absence. The dragon fly nymphs  are still lurking in the murky water which really needs more oxygenating plants. Waterboatman are more numerous than before and a dead reddish dragonfly lies in the water. Water snails seem to be steadily demolishing it.
Walking across the lawn to the pond I noticed a small butterfly ( shown above) which I thought initially was  probably a female Common Blue. Eventually I managed to get close to it and with the help of my trusted book on UK butterflies I am convinced it is a Small Heath. That is the first time I've ever recognised one. The books says they are one of the most common butterflies in the country so I must have been very negligent in not seeing it before.  I am adding a photo of my butterfly and the unfortunate dragon fly and the dragonfly nymph

British Dragonflies

http://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/anisom2.thumbnail.jpg

A recent local report from " a usually reliable source" has caused the equivalent of a twitcher frenzy for a rare migrant bird.

The link shown above gives an impression of a Norfolk Hawker,   Aeshna isoceles,  which whilst reported outside Norfolk is not thought to be present in Somerset.

To try to check for any other sightings  I'm seeking news of any other possible sightings in Somerset. Please contact me if you think you can help
Here is some information about this Dragonfly taken from the Natural History Museum web site.
 
Aeshna isosceles, Norfolk Hawker. © R Jurecek
This dragonfly is restricted to one area of Britain - the broads district of Norfolk. It has been scarce and local in Britain since records began.
It is now categorised as endangered in Britain and is listed in schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In Britain, this endangered species of dragonfly is found only around the Norfolk Broads, but it is also found in other parts of Europe and North Africa. In Norfolk, it prefers to live close to waterways where the water soldier plant - Stratiotes aloides grows. Its name Aeshna isosceles relates to a distinctive triangular marking on its abdomen