DAMSELFLIES AT LOUND LAKES

   Last week on a reasonably sunny warm day I visited the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Lound Lakes to have a look at the damselflies that were on the wing then. I wasn't disappointed with a variety of species showing well along with the bird life which included Blackcaps, Whitethroat, Reed warblers and a multitude of common residents. My damselfly identification skills are fairly basic so I enjoy photographing them and then going home to identify them with the aid of text books but they are getting better with practise.The first damselfly pictured was among the most abundant and vivid in colour and is the Azure Damselfly.

   This next species is the Blue-tailed Damselfly which can appear in different colour forms depending on sex and maturity some of which can be seen below.

   These next two pictures show the Red-eyed Damselfly, firstly an immature specimen and then a mature one both coincidentally eating an unlucky prey insect.

   This last example is of a Common Blue immature female.

   Also present and beginning to show well were some of the orchids for which the reserve is known that are mainly Common Spotted but also a few Southern Marsh variants both being shown below.