May 16 2013

Broomfleet and Market Weighton Canal

With the Dragonfly season now under-way I headed over to the Broomfleet area to search for on of our scarcer Damselflies. Variable Damselfly Coenagrion pulchellum is restricted to this complex of ponds. Though scarce in the region it can be the most numerous species present when it reaches its peak. Six females were found, one of them being of the scarcer dark form, which make up roughly 10% of the female population. Despite seeing some Large Red Damselflies Pyrrhosoma nymphula already this year, these were the first I’d managed to photograph, one allowing close approach to use the macro lens. Whilst walking around the site several Orange-tips Anthocharis cardamines were seen, constantly on the move and rarely settling. However this time I was in the right place as one settle on a bramble leaf only a few feet away. Probably the only chance I’ll get this year. I was surprised to see little activity with other species, only Green-veined White Pieris napi being observed in addition.

Large Red Damselfly – Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Variable Damselfly – Coenagrion pulchellum (Blue form female)

Variable Damselfly – Coenagrion pulchellum (Dark form female)

Orange-tip – Anthocharis cardamines

Another new sighting for the year was a queen German Wasp Vespula germanica, always nice to see, but not everybodies cup of tea! There were several Mining Bee species present, though none were identified to species, along with several Cuckoo Bees, which are a parasite of the Mining Bees, hence their name. There were fewer hoverflies on this visit, though one, Eristalis intricarius proved to be a willing model for its species, illustrating well its bee mimic credentials. Finally a Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. posed well, with the image appearing reasonably sharp. On previous photos I’ve taken, the double wings tend to make them appear unfocused.

A good two hours in the field, though will be happier on the dragonfly season really starts to hot up.

German Wasp – Vespula germanica

Hoverfly – Eristalis intricarius

Cuckoo Bee – Nomada sp.

Mining Bee sp.

Scorpion Fly – Panorpa sp.

May 16 2013

Dragonflies of South-east Yorkshire

The Dragonflies of South-east Yorkshire is now available to order. The quickest way to get your copy is via the link below. If you would like to reduce the cost I can offer the book with posatge included for £24.95 for a limited period. Please send a cheque for £24.95 made payable to Paul Ashton, along wth your address to:-
4 St Aiden Close,
Market Weighton
East Yorkshire,
YO43 3HE

This posatge free offer will close on Friday 14th June 2013, after which time the book will only be available via the link below. Your book should arrive by early July.

Soft cover, 106 pages, full colour, 84 dragonfly/damselfly photos, 6 site photos, 46 species maps, 10 site maps.

http://www.blurb.co.uk/books/4316263-dragonflies-of-south-east-yorkshire-paul-ashton

May 7 2013

Broomfleet and Market Weighton Canal

My second visit of the year to this area in search of Odonata, with the weather being ideal and the best day so far this year. Despite this I only managed to find two Large Red Damselflies Pyrrhosoma nymphula, both in impossible positions to photograph. Hopefully another week or so and numbers and species should increase dramatically.

On the butterfly front I found two new species for the year, these being Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria and Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines. In addition to these were several Peacocks Inachis io and a few Green-veined Whites Pieris napi.

After drawing a near blank with the dragonflies I decided to focus on the Hoverflies and get in some useful practice with the macro lens. Some species can be difficult to identify and can’t always be identified from a photograph, so I will have to start looking at getting the net out to try to capture a few to confirm id. This is also the case for the Cuckoo-bees as there also appears to be a number of different species in the area to identify. See the photos below for the species observed.