Friday 22 April 2011

Damselfly, butterflies

I saw the first damselfly of the year today, a scarlet one, scooting like a ruby streak over the pond and coming to rest on a projecting twig. I also saw something I had never witnessed before - pond skaters mating. They skittered around the water surface, dancing so fast and so erratically that I could not get a clear photograph.

In previous years the swifts have arrived in this area around 7th May. With such an abundance of insect life due to the warm weather, I wonder if they will arrive earlier this year? I have already seen far more butterflies than usual, though there is a strange absence of Peacock butterflies, normally the first to be seen. Instead, we have a lot of Orange Tips and some blue ones that I have yet to identify, though with the silver underside to the wings, I suspect they are Small Blues.

No comments: