Dragonflies

The start of July saw the emergence of Emerald Damselflies  only one at one site then a few more at another till by  the end of the day there where many resting in the tall grass as it became overcast , Common Blue also out in good numbers , Four Spot Chaser 's now a common sight at  most suitable ponds first Emperors seen at East Cramlington but only briefly as it flew off high , have seen numerous sightings of them since and got some photos of them resting , Banded Demoiselle still not common I have seen them as early as the startof June  but wanted to try and get some video of the male dancing over the water, Butterflies in the form of Meadow Brown's & Ringlets seem to just appear with clouds of them in suitable long grass areas , typical the council decides to cut the grass at East Cramlington just as they emerge , you would think they would have someone that advises them just on the basics , the pond is visited on a regular basis by dog walkers who insist there dog takes a swim one day a guy with 5 dogs had them all in, one or two he threw in as they declined to volunteer , this is my cue to leave and go somewhere else . The weather is a bit hit and miss I leave in sunshine to arrive at a site and it's overcast, this is to some extent an advantage if you are there when the larger Dragonflies decide to hang up if it's just cloud they may settled on a Rush or Reed stem but if its overcast and cool they fly off  usually into tree cover . There is something about looking for Dragonflies and Butterflies you get right into it totally absorbed by the quest to find them going about there daily life , trying to learn something about their behaviour or  capture that elusive shot .

 Large Red Damselfly

 The Emergence of Emerald Damselfly

 Drinker Moth

 Common Blue Damselfly

 Banded Demoiselle  a male alights on the water to impress a female

 It's gone overcast and cool this Banded Demoiselle rests to await the suns return

 I had this as Common Darter but thinking now its perhaps Ruddy Darter  I should have looked closer at the time , I can't see any yellow on the legs and there seems a  black stripe down the abdomen which also looks slightly waisted

I put this down as a female  Common Blue ? will have to check my books for this colour form