Green For Go!

Conder Pool produced the goods with some big numbers again on Monday, but that excitement for me was overshadowed later by something even more exciting, and the report from Conder Pool on Birds2blog will have to wait a day or two.

Tales Of The Unexpected.

On ending a most enjoyable and fruitful session at Conder Pool on Monday, I decided to go look in on Saltcote Pond to see if perhaps the Common Hawker was still lingering since I had first found it there on 19 August, and had seen it here previously three times. The Common Hawker wasn't seen this time, but 2 Migrant Hawker and 2 Common Darter were. I also spied a Clouded Yellow butterfly here, but it moved on before I could get out the camera.

By now there was a shift in the weather, some nice blue sky, sunny spells, and a rise in the temperature. And so I changed my plan to retreat and go home, and decided to check the canal for a while, then maybe pay an unexpected return to Birk Bank to end the day.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

As I walked down the path off the bridge and onto the canal, an old female Common Darter posed for me on the handrail.

No sooner had I set foot on the towpath to find 2 Migrant Hawker, than a damselfly came to settle in front of me. Not even time to wonder what it was, it was immediately recognised to be green....emerald green in fact! 

Willow Emerald Dragonfly Lancaster Canal 14 September. Pete Woodruff.

It took me no more than a few seconds to realise I had stumbled upon a Willow Emerald Damselfly. It was a male, complete with pale wing spots and a long abdomen, longer than any other Lestes, and  up to 38mm as notable ID features for me....Thereon, my plan to return to Birk Bank was canceled. 

Willow Emerald Damselfly. Martin Jump.

There's no better way to end a post like this than with another image, this one of a pair in tandem...Thanks for this image and the header to Martin Jump.