Dragonflies and damselflies of Bedfords Park - lots of photos!

[Ukwildlifeo]

My local park is a bit of a hidden gem when it comes to Odonata. Despite it just having one big lake and a few small pond, with no running water there is a large variety present. I have seen Emperors, ruddy and common darters, large and small red eyed damselflies in large numbers, common damselflies, blue tailed damsels, lots of black tailed skimmers, a lone banded demoiselle and yesterday a migrant hawker. But they have had hairy dragonflys every year along with species like brown hawkers and scarce emeralds. And with todays wet weather I thought I'd post some pics I took yesterday among the swarms of small red-eyed damsels lol

There were lots of mating pairs of small red eyed damsels (assuming I've identified them correctly) like this:




Infact small swarms were forming in places


You could see some laying eggs under the water in the weed



Some were doing this sycronised with another pair!


others were piling up!


There were other species about like this black tailed skimmmer


and this common darter pair


and this ruddy darter


and a (common?) darter


and my first views of a landed, and photos of, a migrant hawker

[Fourwings]

An absolutely brilliant set of images.
It looks like this park is a real gem
Its great to see the Small Red-Eyeds doing so well, they have established themselves here in Leicestershire now, considering the fact that they only first appeared in Britain in 1999 the speed of their colonisation is nothing short of astounding.

Steve.

[aeshna5]

Great photos but your "Ruddy" is a Common Darter! The black line on the frons doesn't go down the sides, the yellow cells on thorax side + because of light the legs look dark, I can see a pale stripe on one of them. Difficult from angle of shot, but abdomen doesn't appear right shape either.

Excellent behaiour shots of Small Red-eyes!

[Wild-Woman]

Excellent! A great set of images. As Steve has said, it's good to see the SRED's doing well.
My local patch has them but this year the algae mats have been a bit far out to get a good shot.
Where's Bedford Park by the way?

[Colin Pumfrett]

Bedfords park sounds incredible, last year there was red veined and yellow winged darters there also. I never knew of this place,i used to go bird watching at Hornchurch country park, which must be very close, but i have since moved to Lincolnshire, also nearby is Rainham marsh which is also excellent for dragonflies, a visit to the both of them will be very rewarding.

[glsammy]

An excellent series of shots, what a days haul.
I agree that your Ruddy is a Common Darter, but still an enviable variety of Odonata.

[mh68]

Nice series of shots.The image with the Skimmer and Damsels shows how delicately built the latter are in comparison with the larger dragonfly species.Well done on the Migrant Hawker, got my first Southern Hawker yesterday up here.

Mark H

[Ollie]

Excellent selection and very nice shots of the mating Small Red-eyes. Well done.
Roger

[Ukwildlifeo]

Thanks everyone for you kind words (and ID corrections, ill master these ruddy darters one day lol). Bedfords park is in Romford, and not that far from honchurch country park. If anyone wants me to show them round one day (and perhaps take in some other local parks) Ill be happy to show them round. Im up there alot of the time anyway!

[Jason Green]

The S.R.E.D's have colonised my local park as well - and the Red-Eyed one as well! The Azure is the most common so far, the the mating SREDs. I even saw a single Variable, uncommon in England yet regular in Ireland.