Enter the Dragon .. (Reprise)

It has been a quiet year to date for Odanata in the garden. On the 8th of July a male Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) was noted resting on the Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) at the water-butt pond. It was only seen that once.

On the 1st of August, a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) was holding territory using the back of the garden chair as a lookout post. This encounter transpired to be an all but brief affair too, with only a single day's activity observed, before it disappeared from the garden.

Throughout this heat-wave, both small ponds have required continous top-up  and much attention has been given to removal by hand, of the filamentous green alga which threatens to completely cover the surface of the ponds.

During the course of one such clearing, I was delighted to find a dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum cf striolatum), in the water-butt pond.

water-butt pond

Azure damselfy

Common Darter

Sympetrum cf striolatum nymph
5th Aug 2022