Yesterday and and the day before I went looking for a damselfly at Gibside. The target was the willow emerald damselfly which has just started to occur in the North East. I had planned to go last week with K but poor weather put us off, as it proved decisively as the only dragonfly I managed to see this weekend was a probable Southern Hawker.
However I did yesterday bump into a group of damselfly freaks who explained how the willow emerald lays its eggs in willow twigs. When the tree grows a cavity develops allowing the larvae to drop into the water the following spring. The proof was readily available.
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| Willow scar |
A further consolation was today getting a decent shot of a jay feeding on the grass avenue.
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| Jay |
Normally timid, this one is probably used to the regular passage of visitors and showed little inclination to take fright at passers-by.
At the Lily Pond, I headed for the limited sunny area on the far side where there were no damselflies but a number of bugs enjoying the warmth of rhododendron leaves.
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There's been a lot of ladybirds around this year and I noticed a number of corpses at the tennis club on Friday, with the harlequins largely favouring Court 2.
I hadn't seen a spiked shieldbug before but I think the identification is correct.
A couple of plants also caught my attention;-
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At the moment I can only offer vague identification but both are new to me.
