16 June 2010

Nice day in the Neath Valley

A nice day near Glyn-neath today with lots of insects enjoying the sunshine. I past 2 ponds today. The first was about the size of a tennis court with clear water. This one had at least 8 Four-spotted Chasers(only males identified)

The second one was 1/4 size with very murky water. This one had 9 Broad-bodied Chasers, mostly males with one female observed egg laying.

Also present another couple of Mountain bumblebee (Bombus monticola)

The above bumblebee was at one point chased off by this large and common hoverfly. I've seen Sericomyia silentis defending areas of "air space" before, in much the same way the male chaser dragonflies do over their chosen ponds.

2 comments:

Caroline Gill said...

Great shots. We saw damselflies and chasers at Dinefwr - and demoiselles on the nettles - last w/e.

Mark Hipkin said...

Thanks Coastcard. I've still not seen any demoiselles this year, yet. Hopefully I'll get some photos if I do. Cheers