East Park in August

I was keen to have a dragonfly survey at East Park. Early August is a good time to survey as many species are on the wing. The morning was sunny and warm, with a light breeze, although it had become a bit windy by the time I finished at 11:30. I had parked in the East end of James Reckit Avenue, and as I got to the boardwalk, a Kingfisher darted across the lake, towards the fishing lake. Soon I found a greylag/canada family with two hybrid goslings. As I approach, it became apparent the father was the greylag. The goslings appeared quite dusky. I found them later, swimming by the jetty area.

Mixed Canada/Greylag family.

Hybrid canada/greylag goslings.

This Pied Wagtail stood on the lake shore. On the background, moulted feathers of the park geese form a carpet over the water.

The Great Crested Grebes had three young.

The water was quite transparent today, the bottom visible. These are young perch.

Another species of fish.

Aquatic snails.

Great pond snails feeding on fallen leaf.

Swan Mussel.

A green wall at the water park.

Close-up of the green wall.

The hoverfly Volucella inanis.

Terrapins on the central island. A total of 5 basking on the fallen tree trunks on the central island and the first eastern island.

Terrapins on the east island.

Dragonflies and damselflies

The first dragonfly was a Black-tailed Skimmer. Unusually, it was perched vertically on a stem, probably because it was quite early and the sun still low. This species usually rests on the ground.

Two Red-eyed damselflies were present on the main lake and boating lake.

Azure damselfly.

Red-eyed damselfly.

Common darter.

Small Red-eyed damselfly.

Black-tailed skimmer, a second male on territory.

Male Ruddy darter. My first record at East Park.

Brown hawker. One of 4 individuals present.

Brown Hawker.

Overall, a very successful Odonata count: six species of dragonfly (Emperor, 1; Brown Hawker, 4; Migrant Hawker, 9; Common Darter, 3; Ruddy Darter, 1; Black-tailed Skimmer, 2) and five damselflies (Azure, 2; Blue-tailed 10; Common Blue 21; Red-eyed Damselfly 2; Small Red-eyed damselfly 8). No evidence of breeding other than males on territory was obtained.