R and I went to Croome this afternoon, and were surprised, given that it’s half-term week, to find it blissfully quiet. After a quick ice cream stop (a measure of how hot I was, given that I don’t much like ice cream), we walked down to the lake and round the “river” to the Chinese bridge, searching for dragons as we went.
In happy contrast to the torrid time I had at Croome a week ago, today the lake was Dragonfly Central, with several chalky blue specimens patrolling the perimeter (and annoying each other enormously), and a couple of hawkers working the centre. “Could be Scarce Chasers,” I said, as we squinted into the light at an irritable swirl of blue, moving along the water’s edge in front of us. “Or Broad-bodied Chasers, or Black-tailed Skimmers.” “Well, that one has a black tail,” said R. “Yes, but so do Scarce Chasers,” I replied, “though they have pale eyes. Black-tailed Skimmers have dark green eyes. Broad-bodied Chasers have very dark brown heads and eyes, which are pretty distinctive – but, of course, mature Scarce Chasers have black faces, so that can be confusing.” By now R had clearly given up listening, which was probably wise, and I set about getting as many individuals as I could on camera, so I could identify them properly.
It turned out that all the patrol/bicker/perch/patrol guys around the edge of the lake were either Broad-bodied Chasers or Black-tailed Skimmers, and the hawkers were a Hairy Dragonfly and an Emperor. Along the river there were two or three more Emperors, about the same number of Four-spotted Chasers, a couple more Black-tailed Skimmers, and a Scarce Chaser. Damsel-wise, we saw dozens of Azure Damselflies, a single Common Blue, and a couple of Banded Demoiselles (these last being relatively unusual at Croome); and one of the photos I took of a mass of Azures ovipositing in the middle of the lake also contained a mating pair of Red-eyed Damselflies. Given that we’re still (just) in May, I’d describe that as a pretty pleasing haul.
This Black-tailed Skimmer is in the process of developing his mature colouration. Immatures of both sexes are mustard yellow with black ladder markings on the abdomen, and though the females are slightly chunkier, the best way to tell them apart is by the shape of their anal appendages. Males then develop this blue pruinescence on the abdomen, and their eyes turn green; eventually thorax turns brown, and the chalky blue coating spreads to cover all of the abdomen except the dark tip. Mature females have browny-green eyes, and though they retain their yellow ground colour it gets steadily duller as they age. Both sexes have entirely clear wings – unlike Chasers, which have dark wing bases – with a yellow costa and black wing spots.
R: L2, C10, D8.
