Sunday 27 May 2018

A start for the Yorkshire Dragonfly quest at Oak Road Lake

 I am hoping to see and photograph all 25 breeding dragonfly species in Yorkshire this year. On the 7th of May I had a glimpse of a dragonfly, the first of the year, likely a four-spotted chaser, at North Cliffe Wood, but I didn't relocate it and there was no photo so I won't count it. I wasn't expecting much this windy, sunny and warm afternoon but I had a very pleasant surprise when I saw a Hairy Dragonfly (sp 1) patrolling up and down the edge of the wood by Oak Road Lake. It finally settled in a sheltered corner. To my knowledge, this early emerging species hasn't been recorded at Oak Road Lake, but it appears to be expanding in East Yorkshire.
 A Blue-tailed Damselfly (sp. 2) was resting in the north side of the lake.
 There were several damselflies over the water, including a male Common Blue Damselfly (sp 3)...
 ...and several Large Red-eyed Damselflies (sp. 4). They were far out over the water, including a pair in tandem, but I managed some record shots.
Mating Large red-eyed damselfly.
Large Red-eyed damselfly.
A Tetragnatha spider on the reed leaves.
A folded winged cranefly, Ptychoptera contaminata              
The bend in the river Hull.

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