Pool, Canal, And Stonking Moth.

Aqueduct Pool.

Aqueduct Bridge. Copyright Johnathon Price.

As it was located below the Aqueduct Bridge, it seemed appropriate that I decided to christen the small body of water Aqueduct Pool. It was here that I observed my first Emerald Damselfly on 10 August 2023.

Aqueduct Pool 23 July. Pete Woodruff.

It's no surprise to find no Emerald Damselflies, the pool doesn't look to have had any recent management, and the fact that a huge fast food chain has an outlet a few hundred metres away up the path, this results with the site becoming one of 'human remains' not wildlife. Add this to the fact that the Emerald Damselfly is a strictly still water species, favouring shallow water with extensive emergent and marginal vegetation, it being shy to fly over open water.

I count myself lucky to have had the one encounter with the Emerald Damselfly in August 2023. Also on previous visits, I have recorded Southern Hawker and Brown Hawker, both species egg laying, and Four-spotted Chaser....I don't think the Emerald Damselfly or any of this  will ever happen here again!

Emerald Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

When I visited Aqueduct Pool on Thursday there was little sign of anything here, though I noted 4 Common Blue Damselfly and 2 Common Darter male.

Dragonfly Exuvia. Pete Woodruff.

Being a novice in the world of odonata, I did manage to find my first exuvia, it was at the back of the pool, so difficult to get a half decent image. I doubt anyone could answer the question 'what's this then'. 

Lancaster Canal.

From here I walked the canal towpath back to Lancaster, being a little disappointed with the resulting 13 dragon sightings, 8 Brown Hawker, 3 Emperor Dragonfly, including a female egg laying, a Common Blue Damselfly and Common Darter both males. Butterflies were a mix of 18 Large/Small White, 6 Speckled Wood, a Comma and Red Admiral.

These records compare poorly with those on my last walk along this 2 mile stretch of the Lancaster Canal in August 2024 when I notched up 48 individuals, 23 Emperor Dragonfly, 12 Brown Hawker, 8 Common Darter, and 5 Common Blue Damselfly.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth. Martin Jump.

The Hummingbird Hawk Moth is a daytime flying moth, and a migrant species from Southern Europe and North Africa, it is occasionally seen in good number, especially during long hot spells like the one we have experienced over the past weeks.

* I found 58 records of Hummingbird Hawk Moth in West Lancashire this year March 5 - June 22.

Martin Jump.

As far as the photographic evidence he has achieved, my take on Martin Jump's recent encounter with a Hummingbird Hawk-moth, is that he's the luckiest person in Lancashire, if not in Britain.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth Egg Laying. Martin Jump.

I reckon Martin Jump was a step ahead of everyone in the County of Lancashire and beyond with this one, not only did he find the moth, but he managed to see it egg laying, and not only egg laying, but captured it on camera. Taking a closer look, there are three eggs in the image....I mean c'mon!

I was lucky to find a Hummingbird Hawk Moth on 2 September 2025, it put on a good show for me while I got some footage as it collected nectar with its long proboscis from the Wild Sweet William in the garden. 

News From The Bog!

Excellent news from Birk Bank from a trusted and reliable source, is that the current record stands at a spectacular 22 Keeled Skimmer as at Tuesday 14 July.

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

On Thursday, I spent an enjoyable and rewarding 2 hours at Birk Bank, but based on the chances of my equalling the current record let alone beating it, I did find at least 14 Keeled Skimmer in the first 5 minutes there. Quite surprisingly all were male, though by the end of the session I had seen two females egg laying.

The next best thing, was the 2 Golden-ringed Dragonfly sightings, neither of which had stopped off for photographs!

Four-spotted Chaser Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Four-spotted Chaser seen, this one an immature with wing spots not very apparent, and were mostly on the wing, and all were immediately seen off by the male Keeled Skimmers.

I hadn't noticed the insect at the time, only when I came to process the footage did I see it face to face with the chaser, and I wondered if it had escaped with its life, but I reckon it was living dangerously.

Being a novice in the game, I can only assume this female dragonfly is egg laying, you can see its abdomen under the leaf on the bog, in which case it is making heavy weather of the exercise.

I have no idea of the fate of this unidentified dragonfly. The behaviour added to the bleached appearance which is probably caused by the stark sunlight....All things considered, something of a mystery. 

Azure Damselfly Birk Bank 16 July. Pete Woodruff.

Three Azure Damselfly seen, and something of a surprise was a Blue-tailed Damselfly, it not being a common sight around acidic waters, I don't recall ever seeing one at Birk Bank before. It was good to see the Emperor Dragonfly again this year if only on a brief fly by.

Birds & Butterflies.

It was an icing on the cake moment when I found a pair of Stonechat as I came away from the bog, the male was seen with a grub in its bill....obvious breeders for me. Vocal interaction by a pair of Willow Warbler, and a Buzzard overhead.

Butterflies were a little thin, but one or two escaped ID as they whizzed by....no good for a learner like me! Three Ringlet, 2 Red Admiral and a Meadow Brown.  

All About The Skimmers!

Well not really all about the skimmers, but that's where we start....

It was a pleasure to be accompanied by Steve Graham at Birk Bank on Tuesday when we discovered a record breaking number of an odonata species discovered here only 11 years ago in August 2015 by Steve. This record was second only to the one found at Grindleton Forest Pond in August 2013 by Allen Holmes, it being the first Keeled Skimmer for the County of Lancashire.

Keeled Skimmer Male Birk Bank 23 June. Pete Woodruff.

The result of a pleasant and interesting 2 hours around the bog at Birk Bank produced a record breaking 12 Keeled Skimmer, including two pairs in cop, and two egg laying females.

Keeled Skimmer Copulating Birk Bank 23 June. Pete Woodruff.

I counted myself fortunate to have achieved a half decent image of the copulating pair of Keeled Skimmer, as I couldn't see them for sunlight on my camera monitor....Point and shoot=success this time!

A close second to the Keeled Skimmers was an Emperor Dragonfly, viewed in the mid-distance from the footpath. Also from this viewpoint, a 'few' Four-spotted Chaser seen.

When Steve Graham found the first Keeled Skimmer at Birk Bank back in August 2015, he had said, quote....'perhaps colonisation is finally underway'....Well the evidence today proved you was spot on there Steve.

Azure Damselfly. Pete Woodruff.

Two Azure Damselfly were separated from Common Blue when they eventually settled, also Large Red Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Large Skipper. Pete Woodruff.

Butterflies were at best a little thin, but 6 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary seen but not photographed, 2 Ringlet, 2 Painted Lady, a Large Skipper, and Small Tortoiseshell.

Birds were represented by singing Garden Warbler, Blackcap, and Willow Warbler....Well where would we be without the Willow Warbler!

Bull Beck.

One positive and a negative for a wander along the footpath at Bull Beck earlier in the week.

Spotted Flycatcher. Paul Ellis.

The positive was a pleasant surprise to find Spotted Flycatcher, with a nest and two adult birds seen, one with food in it's bill.

Bull Beck River Lune Sandbank. Pete Woodruff.

I don't recall checking last year, but the one time thriving Sand Martin colony at Bull Beck is deserted, non-existent, and  todays negative.

Feature....Here's an issue which should have been featured on B2B many times over, but this one is up to date, 149 Hen Harriers have gone missing in the UK since 2018, most of them on or close to grouse moors.

Hen Harrier. Simon Hawtin.

For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of Hen Harriers on grouse moors across the UK. The latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise is Here 

Thanks to Paul Ellis and Simon Hawtin for their images, and to Ian Mitchell for his header moth. The V-Pug is fairly common throughout England, but actually scarcer in Northern England.

Looking Back Through The Dragons.

I reviewed my top four dragon species found in 2025.

Banded Demoiselle.

13 May: 16 at Bull Beck in the Lune Valley by the River Lune. I didn't expect to find Banded Demoiselle before the beginning of May. This was my best and earliest ever count of the species anywhere.  

19 May: 4 on the Lancaster Canal east of Conder Green.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly Grisedale Brook. Pete Woodruff.

23 June: One on Grisedale Brook. 

16 July: 2 Birk Bank around the bog.

26 June: 3 Birk Bank around the bog.

15 August: 3 Grisedale Brook.

Emperor Dragonfly.

Emperor Dragonfly Lancaster Canal. Pete Woodruff.

25 June: One Saltcote Pond Glasson.

9 July: One Saltcote Pond Glasson.

12 July: 6 Lancaster Canal Garstang area.

16 July: 2 Birk Bank around the bog.

21 July: One Lancaster Canal Glasson.

26 July 2 Lancaster Canal Garstang.

6 August: One Birk Bank around the bog.

11 August: 2 Fairfield NR including female ovipositing.

5 September: 2 Birk Bank around the bog.

9 September: One Birk Bank around the bog.

25 September; One Birk Bank around the bog.

Note. My September records of Emperor Dragonfly at Birk Bank, carries the comment on the iRecord website....'Date is outside the known flight period of Anax imperator'.

Keeled Skimmer.

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

16 July: 4 Birk Bank around the bog.

6 August; One Birk Bank around the bog.

25 August: 5 Birk Bank around the bog.

Keeled Skimmer Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

Not my best year for dragonflies, on the down side, the worst experience was finding the dead male Keeled Skimmer on Birk Bank bog. Presumably drowned, but if it was predated the culprit didn't finish the job! 

On the plus side, finding the Emperor Dragonfly again this year at Birk Bank was excellent, even more so, that it was still being seen there on 25 September, a late date in the year for the species. 

I'd sooner be birding......but still haven't done so this year yet, causing my mental condition to deteriorate rapidly 😠

Last Chance Saloon!

My last visit to the bog at Birk Bank on 5 September, brought me to remark that I reckoned it would be the last of the dragonflies to be seen there this year....Well what do you know, I was wrong about that, because my visit there on Thursday produced 4 species of 26 dragons.

Common Darter Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

A total of 16 Common Darter were seen, including 5 pairs in tandem.

Black Darter Pairing Birk Bank Bog. Pete Woodruff.

Also 7 Black Darter which were seen as 2 pairs in tandem and 3 male. Two Migrant Hawker flew quite rapid through and over the bog, too rapid for me to be able to rule out Common Hawker being the habitat of an acidic bog in late September.

Common Hawker. Copy Permitted.

Best sighting of the day was the male Emperor Dragonfly still here. This record beats my last years sighting on 19 September by 6 days. 

Two notes to make here re the Emperor records....

1) 'Date is outside the known fight period of Anax imperator'....iRecords 

2) 'Emperors become scarce by early September'....The Dragonflies of Lancashire and North Merseyside. Published in 2015.....How things change in a decade. 

Crossbill.

After getting my fill of dragons, on a wander along the path to Ottergear Bridge and return, it wasn't long before I discovered what an excellent decision I had made.

I was no more than 400 metres from Ottergear Bridge, when I was met by the amazing sight of a male Crossbill. The bird was taking a drink from the run-off in stony area in the centre of this picture. 

But my excitement was short lived as the bird soon took to flight and I discovered it was accompanied by a second bird which I hadn't seen. An educated guess is, that it was an olive/grey female, camouflaged on the ground amongst the grass.

In 35 years when my association with the Forest of Bowland was taking off, I have never seen nor expected to find the Crossbill at Birk Bank/Clougha, and to be honest I know of no records from here either, so this surely has to be a first.

Thanks to Simon Hawtin for his excellent image of the stunning male Crossbill.

And Finally.

Even with just a remote interest in Odonata, I recommend you take a look at Marc Heath's Kent Dragonflies.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly Marc Heath  

And Now For Something A Little Different!

Lune Estuary.

By way of a change, I decided on a different viewpoint to observe the incoming tide on the Lune Estuary, and went to the embankment above the picnic site at Conder Green. This was a first for me, I always view the same stretch on the river from the bowling green at Glasson Dock, but both these locations have plus and minus points, some you win, some you loose.

Until the tide gained height, most of the waders were out of view below the marsh, but once the tide reached the marsh they were out in the open, though then the smaller birds were in the long grass.

On the shoreline I managed to see 4 Greenshank, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, a Ruff, Whimbrel, and Common Sandpiper. Then driven on to the marsh by the tide, a Curlew Sandpiper and Snipe. Overhead a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard was briefly attacked by a Kestrel, and 3 Migrant Hawker were patrolling the trees.

When I left the area, there was little dry land for the waders to escape to. The group pictured in my header were hanging on in at high tide.

Birk Bank Bog.

Black Darter male. Pete Woodruff.

Thinking it could well be my last chance for the dragons, and the day being at least decent weather-wise, I decided to give Birk Bank a return visit where I found 6 Black Darter, 5 male and a female.

Black Darter female. Pete Woodruff.

Eleven Common Darter were seen as 6 male and 5 female. It was good to find the male Emperor Dragonfly again, still patrolling and checking out the vegetation by the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I reckon these are the last of the dragons at Birk Bank Bog in '25. 

Guillemot Inner M'cbe Bay.

Scaup Off Broadway 17 January. Pete Woodruff.

 

I met Steve Edmundson at Birk Bank, he reminded me we had met earlier in the year at Morecambe when we were watching the female Scaup off Broadway. Steve told me of a Guillemot he'd seen off Teal Bay during the week. I told him he had been fortunate to find a scarce sea bird for this area of Morecambe Bay, he said he would send me a picture of the bird.

Guillemot Teal Bay 9 September. Steve Edmundson.

Thank you Steve, much appreciated.

Swifts.

When I found the quite amazing record of 60 Swift on passage through Borrowdale in the Lake District on Thursday 11 September, I thought it was a sighting worthy of mention. Even more amazing when I read they were observed over a 2 hour period flying north, which is in the opposite direction of their wintering grounds in Africa. Only a minority of Swifts would still be in Europe during September....Sixty Swift flying north in Northern England in mid-September doesn't sound like a minority in Europe.

Dragons, Butterflies, Raptors And A Couple Of Caterpillars.

An enjoyable wander on a circuit of Fairfield NR Monday afternoon. A well designed and managed reserve with ponds and scrapes to explore, deserving of congratulations to all involved. 

One of the good points about the reserve, is that most of the ponds and scrapes are inaccessible. Obviously a good point, in that it's designed to keep Joe Blogs from trespassing in the area....Well it kept me away!

Emperor Dragonfly. Pete Woodruff.

Dragonflies.

But the first pond I found was called Alder Pool, appropriately named as there was a lone Alder to the north of it. Viewable over a fence through a gap in the hedge, and where I found an Emperor Dragonfly pair, with the male patrolling the pond, and the female eventually ovipositing.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Also seen were 6 Common Darter, seen as five male but included a female coming close to settle on a twig for a picture. Leaving the reserve, I walked along a short stretch of the canal to find 3 Brown Hawker including a female ovipositing, also a Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

I soon rejoined the reserve at the east end, to find another 4 Brown Hawker and 8 Common Darter, these were all seen basking on the fence line.

Raptors.

As I was leaving the reserve, a Buzzard was overhead being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk, an excellent sighting for size comparison and a soaring Buzzard with the flap-flap-glide flight of the hawk.

Butterflies.

Give the perfect weather conditions today and in the near future, my butterfly records continue to be sparse, with just 4 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell seen in 3 hours here today.

Caterpillars.

I spotted two on the grit track just a couple of metres apart.

Red Admiral Butterfly. Pete Woodruff.

White Ermine Moth. Pete Woodruff.

Garden Butterflies.

Peacock. Pete Woodruff.

Two stunning Peacock were in our garden yesterday with a Red Admiral....

Comma. Pete Woodruff.

....and the Comma - also stunning - in our garden recently was memorable.

....But First The Bad Bit!

Based on the weather being not as good as forecast, although it was bright, there was cloud most of the day, with an annoying cool breeze which wouldn't bode well for dragon hunting. I was tempted to title this post Another Wrong Day, but decided that would be a little too boring for three posts in a row....So here goes.

Let's get rid of the bad bit first....The only Keeled Skimmer I saw in two 30 minute visits to Birk Bank bog was a deceased male.

Keeled Skimmer Male (Deceased) Pete Woodruff.

OK, everything reaches the end, but there's no way I wanted to see a dead dragonfly today, and certainly not a Keeled Skimmer, a species that has only colonised Birk Bank bog since it was first discovered here 10 years ago in August 2015 by local birder Steve Graham. I've seen them every year since then, but there's no question I was gutted at seeing this one having expired today.

Now here's the good excellent bit....I saw 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly, including a 'buy one get one free' moment, when two settled together for a photo-shoot.

Golden-ringed Dragonflies Birk Bank 6 August. Pete Woodruff.

Also, a stunning male Emperor Dragonfly was patrolling close to the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Six Common Darter male were all basking on the boardwalk as they do, and 2 Blue-tailed Damselfly seen.  

Whilst watching the dragonflies I spotted some interaction between two raptors which kept coming in to view over the ridge above Birk Bank. Difficult to keep up to, but managed some brief record footage of 2 Peregrine Falcon. Later in the same area, a soaring Buzzard. 

Also seen from the boardwalk, a bird flew out from a Mountain Ash, to my great surprise and pleasure, it was a Green Woodpecker. This was my first since I last found one here 4 years ago in April 2021, previously a Green Woodpecker was found here in July 2020....Three in a row at Birk Bank.

Sundew Birk Bank. Pete Woodruff.

It was good to find the Sundew still thriving here, with several clusters found below the north end of the boardwalk.

Common Darter. Pete Woodruff.

Sightings on a wander from the bog to Ottergear Bridge. A Common Darter female seen from the path up the bank on bracken was difficult for an image for ID. 

Did you know, bracken is thought to be the most common plant in the world and is found on all continents except Antarctica. 

A Roe Deer was seen in a field off Rigg Lane, and it was great to find the breeding record of a family party of 4 Stonechat. A male Common Darter was on Ottergear Bridge, and butterflies noted along the way, a Painted Lady, 2 Small Copper, a Holly Blue, and Meadow Brown.

Another Wrong Day....Definitely not, quite the opposite actually, it developed into more like an excellent day in my book.

Conder Pool.

An update from Conder Pool has me gutted once again, when I learn that just the one young from three Little Ringed Plover has survived. Just the one piece of good news out of this is, all being well the bird should fledge in the coming week....Here's hoping!

Little Ringed Plover Conder Pool 30 July. Howard Stockdale.

Assuming this young bird is the sole survivor from the same pair, it is the result of 5 attempts to breed, and that's from a species which usually lays 4 eggs in the breeding season, which although not likely this year - though she did lay 3 eggs this last attempt - would make it a pitiful 20 eggs laid from this female.

I'm grateful to Howard Stockdale for regularly keeping me up to date with matters relating to Conder Pool. 

Invading AC's Territory For Starters!

I messaged AC on Monday morning to ask if he was on territory at Bank End today, he replied he was and off I went to meet up.

It's quite an easy task to find and observe the birds at Bank End, all you have to do is to check out the sheep on the marsh, though that's a task in itself as there are a quite a few of'em. But having spent a pleasant hour here, I racked up 8 Yellow Wagtail, all entered in the book as juvenile, none being close enough to be noted as female, and certainly not a male in sight.

Worthy of note, AC recorded 10 Yellow Wagtail at Bank End yesterday Tuesday 22 July, seen as  a stunning male, 2 female and 7 juvenile. 

I went off to pay my first of two visits to Conder Pool, to find 16 Common Tern, including juveniles, one of which was exercising its wings lifting itself a few inches of the ground with every flap. Avocet seen were one adult and the juvenile marked C6. Also 4 Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, and 2 Little Grebe. But the mega triple surprise was 1) the sight of a pair of Little Ringed Plover 2) accompanied by 2 chicks no more than a few says old, and 3) the report of a juvenile seen on Conder Pool recently....Well, work that one out if you can!

On the Lune Estuary, another 16 Common Tern here, brought the total on the day to 32 Common Tern estuary and pool. 

The count on the estuary included an adult with juvenile, the adult had a yellowish ring bleached to near white on the left leg, metal on the right. Also noted, 5 Mediterranean Gull, a Greenshank, and 2 Avocet adult. 

On a short walk along the canal towpath, an Emperor Dragonfly, Brown Hawker, and a Sedge Warbler.

Brown Hawker. Pete Woodruff.

On Saltcote Pond a Brown Hawker, in my experience the species doesn't readily settle very often, though this male did oblige if briefly. A female Broad-bodied Chaser went to oviposit briefly, also 5 Common Blue Damselfly and a Speckled Wood butterfly.

Thanks to Paul Ellis for the header image. I struggled to find one, I've never taken a photograph of Yellow Wagtail in my life.