Red-eyed Damselfly in Swansea

(c) Jeff Driscoll

 Jeff Driscoll sent VC41 Dagonfly Blog a selection of Damselfly photos recently and among them was this one. After a bit of back tracking and jogging the memory it was established that this photo had been taken in early June 2011 at Pluck Lake. It is a male Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) and not surprisingly sitting on a Water Lily. This species does seem to be expanding its distribution westwards through Wales currently and is well worth looking out for. This may be the furthest West this species has been recorded in VC41 so far and is a very good record by Jeff.

If you have seen this species then please let us know.

I visited Pluck Lake today and found at least 1 male present. Not difficult to track down as the only patch of Water Lilies on the lake is very obvious, although not very close to the waters edge. Pluck Lake can be found at SS669957.

Water Lilies at Pluck Lake

Also on show here today during a brief visit were Blue-tailed Damselfly, Broad-bodied Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer

Some more of Jeff's recent dragonfly images can be found on the link below

VC41 Dragonfly Blog