Berkshire Surrey borders unidentified dragons and damsels

[britnik]

I'm have been trying to photograph damsels this season and have been able to get a couple of pictures of dragonflies. I went to a new location for me today Bramshill Plantation.

I hope for some help identifying some of the new species that I managed to snap today.

The first damsel seemed a little smaller than usual and more "fluttery" than other damsels
Sorry for the quality


The second is a blue damsel but I can't make sense of segment 2, although the coenagrion? spur is there


The third damsel I think may be a "Red Eyed"
Again not the best capture


There were scores of Dragonflies there today from green and blue (Emperor?), light blue and reddish. However I only managed to get photos of two.

[wint]

I think these are

1. Common Blue female (immature)
2. Male Azure
3. Red-eyed male - better than my photos!
4. Black-tailed Skimmer male
5. Keeled Skimmer immature male

but it is late...!

[britnik]

Thanks for your time Paul

[britnik]

A couple of questions if I may,

How do you tell a immature male keeled skimmer from an immature female keeled skimmer?
Are there any quick ways of identifying small red eyed damselflies from the large?

[wint]

Originally Posted by britnik

A couple of questions if I may,

How do you tell a immature male keeled skimmer from an immature female keeled skimmer?
Are there any quick ways of identifying small red eyed damselflies from the large?

Hi Britnik

Immature male Keeled Skimmers have a lot more black along the sides of the abdomen then females and if you get a view where you can see the end of the abdomen the male claspers are longer and close together whereas the female's are shorter and more widely spaced. Looking at your pic again I can see it's actually a female! (Always best for me to post before the bottle of wine )

Examples from the galley -
female
and imm male[img]http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/data/24/thumbs/6961
_keeled_skimmer.jpg[/img]

Red-eyed / Small Red-eyed

With a good view through binoculars it's easy to pick out the different blue patterns of the abdomen segments. When I'm in the is it / isn't it zone (and scope left in the car!) I find that Red-eyed Damselflies are quite 'chunky' and I can normally see them when I take the bins away - the small Red-eyed just seem to disappear! Red-eyed are as big as Common Blues and often clashing with them on the ponds I go to. It may be my eyesight I've never found the 'different' colour of the eyes as mentioned in the fieldguides to be of use in the field.

Hope that helps, Paul

[britnik]

Thats great Paul
Thanks for your help