Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)

female

I had a meander around some local boggy heathland yesterday and was pleased to find Emerald Damselflies in good numbers.  They have an interesting life cycle metamorphosing from egg to larva to adult in one season after a year diapause as an egg.  They prefer shallow brackish water lacking in fish as this cuts down the risk of predation and the larvae then grow more quickly than many other species as they are able to feed at twice the rate.  In flight I thought the males were superficially similar to Blue-tailed Damselflies until they come to rest when you can get a good look at them.  Further down south we also get the Scarce Emerald (Lestes dryas) and the Southern Emerald (Lestes barbarus), but I won't bore you with the differences!


female



male



female



for comparison male on the left and female on the right

Little Owls

Little Owls are generally hard to see, unless they move, as they blend in so well with a tree trunk.  On this occasion I heard the adult bird pictured above calling to the juvenile bird below which alerted me to their presence.  There is a chap who has found over 100 Little Owl sites in Leicestershire so I wonder how many sites there actually are in the East Riding?