Panshanger Park In Summer

Meadow Browns were by far the most conspicuous and numerous. There were mainly males on the wing in the wildflower meadows in search of females. More often than not, when I see Meadow Browns at rest, the wings are closed. Compared to other butterflies, the pattern on the underside is quite plain. Its distinguishable feature is a single white dot in the centre of a black spot on the forewing, which is quite often visible at rest. This can also be seen on the upperside of the wings, when they’re open. As luck would have it, that morning we got to see one spreading its wings. A splash of orange on both the upper side of the forewings and a hint of it teasingly revealed by the partially covered hindwings meant it was a female.

There was something about the two butterflies that made me look longer. I’m not sure if it was the colour (they’re a darker brown than Meadow Browns) or their flight. But sure enough, after following them and finally getting a few photos, I realised my mistake. I love the way this pair were flying close together through the grass. I know you can't easily see they're Ringlets, but this was my best shot of them that morning!!! I suspect it was more a male in pursuit of a female, rather than a male defending his territory. These are one of my favourite butterflies. I love the chocolate coloured brown of their wings and the small rings that are particularly noticeable on the underside. I’d never even heard of Ringlets before last year and yet they’re one of our most common butterflies!

Of the dragonflies we saw on our outing, the Four-Spotted Chaser was the most predominant. A number of males appeared to be defending their territories over the first small pond we stopped at. From a viewing platform, we watched their erratic flight and the occasional bouts of hovering, quite often in the same few places.

That was how I managed to capture this image. The trick was to prefocus on a spot and wait patiently for the dragonfly to return to it again. I also used a fast burst of consecutive shots and hoped that one would be in focus. It takes a lot of practice and you usually have far more to discard than you do keepers!

Sometimes there were moments of calm when we saw the male nearest us rest on a favoured perch or two. But more often than not, another male would intrude and there was mayhem. It was as if someone had just pressed a fast forward button! Occasionally, it was a female that did a fly by. She aroused a great deal of interest, as the males would follow her around the pond. A bit later ‘our’ male would return again, presumably unsuccessful in mating. Though who knows, apparently the ‘deed’ is over in seconds!



We did get lucky on one occasion, or I should say he did, because a female flew in to his zone. I noticed how she dipped her abdomen briefly, but repeatedly, into the water. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, she would have been egg laying. No sooner was she done, when ‘our’ male formed a mating wheel with her. They rose up a couple of metres above the water’s surface, and hovered right in front of us for a split second, then flew off (not quite into the sunset). It all happened so quickly, there was no time for a photo!

Not long before this outing I’d heard people on Twitter talk of exuvia, which is the remains of the larva casing from which the adult insect emerges (damsels and dragons). To actually see an example was great, even if it wasn’t that fresh. It amazes me that larva of both species spend two years in water before it’s ready to turn into the adult form. The larva crawls up a reed and the adult form breaks out of the casing. The fact the dragonfly (or damselfly) is at least twice the size of the casing is quite remarkable. It must have been a tight squeeze!

There was a female Banded Demoiselle perched on a reed closer towards us, but at the time I thought she might have been one of the emerald species because of her colouration. Whilst there were no Willow trees overhanging the pond (and no other trees particularly close by) I had forgotten that the Willow Emerald sits with its wings open, so that species should have been ruled out immediately.

One of the crucial things I failed to notice was how the wing shape was different. Instead of long slender wings, the demoiselles have a slightly more tapered oval shape. The female also has a very distinctive white wing spot that the male doesn’t possess and it’s a different colour to the other emerald damselflies. I’m hoping I’ll remember all of this for next time. That’s the great thing about making mistakes – you tend to learn from them!

At this first pond we saw three of the blue species of damselfly, the Common Blue, Blue-Tailed and Azure. The latter were only a few in number, at least from our vantage point and the ones we were close enough to identify.

The male Azure damsel is similar to the Common Blue, but a few of the identifying features are that it has a noticeable black spur (small notch) on the side of the thorax and the blue bands on top are narrower (as seen in the photo).

The Blue-Tailed Damselflies were also few in number. The males are easier to tell because their abdomen is predominantly black with only blue on the end segments. One of the most useful identifying features is that both sexes have two tone pterostigma (wing spots). You can probably see this better if you expand the screen.

I thought the females would be another colour and that’s it. But, oh no! There are five different colour forms for the females! They all have the same blue tail, but the thorax is a different colour. We were lucky enough to see the rufescens, which was a first for me.

Unsurprisingly, we saw more of the Common Blues than any other species. At the first pond, we'd seen all three species in fairly equal number, but further along the walk and at the larger lake, we saw predominantly Common Blues.

In terms of identification, segments S8 and S9 at the bottom end of the abdomen are solid blue and there's no notch on the side of its thorax.

Much later along our walk we reached the end of a lake and I was amazed by the sheer number of Common Blues that were congregating around the tall grasses. I'd never seen so many before in one place. I didn't know where to look and which one to photograph first. But, then I noticed some lucky males had already found a partner and had formed a mating wheel, so I turned my attention towards them. It was great that they were relatively accessible too, and therefore easier to photograph. What I love about this photo is how you've got a couple of the damsels flying around them, which gives you a little indication of the activity all around us.

There are two different colour forms for the female in this species. In the previous photo, you can see the green form in the mating wheel (if you look closely). This is the colour I’ve seen before. So, I was thrilled when I got home and realised we’d also seen the blue form as well. At the time, I just kept taking photos of each variation we saw and figured I’d worry about identification later.

You can see the blue on the abdomen in this photo. However, you’d also expect to see blue on the thorax as well. However, I’ve read that the thorax turns brown with age, so I’m guessing that’s the case here. It’s worth remembering age is relative. Damselflies in the UK seldom live more than one or two weeks. Dragonflies fare a bit better, but only the luckiest live about two months and most live less than half that time.

I did get a little confused a few times because I saw several damsels that looked more straw coloured and almost translucent. Upon further investigation, I discovered these would have been tenerals, a term I’ve not come across before. It’s the name given to the newly emerged immature damsels and dragons. Their colour develops as they mature. In fact, I've only just discovered that another of the species I photographed that day was a teneral as well.

I was very distracted by all the commotion of the Common Blues that it took me a while before I noticed a striking bright yellow large dragonfly resting on the grass nearby. I took some photos and later found out it was a Black-Tailed Skimmer. But, as you can see in the photo, there's no black tail, which suggested to me she was a female. I’d say in more cases than not, the naming of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies are all related to the male of the species and there’s often significant differences between the sexes.

But that's not where the identification challenge ends! Just to add confusion, immature Black-Tailed Skimmers of both sexes look very similar (as is the case with other dragon species) and both are yellow. One of my friends assures me this is a teneral, freshly emerged, and you can tell by how clear the wings are.

Across all species of dragons and damsels you'll often find the eye colour varies between the sexes. In this species the male eyes are greenish or blue but the females are olive or brown, suggesting this immature is a female. There's one more clue here, the black ladder pattern running down the sides of the abdomen looks thicker in the immature male.

You can see the lovely clear wings of the immature female more easily in this photo with the Common Blue damselfly.

For quite some time she seemed very chilled out, resting on the tall grasses, which was handy for me taking a photo. Then the Common Blue suddenly appeared and photobombed my shot and disturbed her. Whilst the photo is out of focus, you can appreciate the difference in size between the two species.

It wasn't only butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies that caught my attention. One of the highlights of the morning was when I noticed some movement on the ground. It wasn’t a cricket or grasshopper but a gorgeous little froglet – a baby Common Frog. It was hiding in the shorter grass and thankfully did a good job of avoiding my feet. I’d seen my first one the previous summer, but had failed to get a decent photo. It had disappeared into the taller grass too quickly on that occasion. I was thrilled to see another and get a great photograph.