As we enter the summer months we begin a lean period for us bird watchers. After the frenzied activity of the spring it seems that most of our birds take a step back into the leafy foliage and take a deep breath. This of course not necessarily true, a lot of our breeding species have several clutches and broods though the coming months, and they have to undergo their annual moult. There is still plenty of great bird watching to be done as our summer migrants continue to thrill us, and the reed beds will still be full of our various visiting warblers. You could of course head to the coast, and try and see some of the fantastic sea bird colonies that will be in full swing at the moment.
There are another group of aerial acrobats that are worthy of watching during the coming months, and those are the damselfly and dragonflies.
I visited the nature reserve of Allt-yr-yn, near Newport a few weekends back. I was being shown around my good friend Nigel's “patch”. I went with the hope of seeing some dragonflies or damselflies rather than birds. Allt-yr-yn is a small wooded nature reserve with a few lakes so an ideal habitat for dragonflies. We did see a few of our feathered friends whilst we were there. There were sudden bursts of songs from hidden Wrens and Blackbirds; we saw the occasional Jay flitting in the treetops, but by and large it was a quiet day on the birding front.
As most of you are undoubtedly aware Dragonflies and Damselflies spend the early part of their life cycle as aquatic nymphs. What you may not be aware of is the length of time some of our British dragonflies actually spend underwater. Typically the development stage is one to two years, in the case of emerald dragonflies it can be as short as two to three months, at the other end of the spectrum the Golden Ringed Dragonfly, which can be found at the Lake Vrynwy reserve, remains a larvae for more than five years. They are ferocious predators of the aquatic undergrowth, typically eating other larvae, tadpoles and even small fish. The final part of their life-cycle when they are winged adults, that we find most interesting, can only last weeks or months at the most. The fully developed larvae climbs a piece of vegetation, attaches itself firmly, and then moults for the last time, busting out from the larval skin and pumping fluids into its legs and wings to become what is known as a teneral dragonfly. After an hour so of allowing its wings and body to harden it is ready to make its maiden flight. A bit like the transformation of the caterpillar to a butterfly, this is a truly remarkable metamorphosis. The adult dragonfly is almost double the length of the larval skin from which it emerged.
We are incredibly lucky in Wales to be blessed with some dragonfly and damselfly rich habitats. My local patch of Newport Wetlands has seventeen of the approximately thirty nine British Species recorded at it. My other local hotspot is Cosmeston Lakes, with twenty three species recorded there.
They are equally ferocious aerial predators as there were aquatic ones. A great way to observe them is to find a territory and sit and be patient. They normally will have a perch from which they will defend their territory and attract a mate. They will continue to return to that perch after each flight, but they generally feed on the wing. They will pluck flies and midges out of the air with the same dexterity as a Swift. Keep a look out for mating pairs of damselflies, their bodies linked to make a heart shape.
Dragonflies and Damselflies come in a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes, and there are enough to keep avid nature watchers happy, with only a small number of species to learn to identify. There can be one added bonus of dragonfly watching, they are on the menu for one of our top birds of prey, the Hobby. You never know, you may witness this clash of the two top predators, and that is something that will stay with you for a long time!
Top left: Female Broad Bodied Chaser
Middle Right: Male Beautiful Damselfly
Bottom Left: Male Emperor Dragonfly (UK Largest Dragonfly)
All images © Anthony Walton.
Very informative and well-written. Great job Mr Walton!