close up of the red damselfly at a clover head

The Red Damselfly

By Bernie Bell. We used to see Damselflies by the pond in our garden – red and electric-blue.  They liked to land on the leaves of the Flag Irises.  Then, the pond got covered in duck-weed and we haven’t seen a Damselfly for years. Recently, we were sitting on the bench at the front of…

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By Bernie Bell.

We used to see Damselflies by the pond in our garden – red and electric-blue.  They liked to land on the leaves of the Flag Irises.  Then, the pond got covered in duck-weed and we haven’t seen a Damselfly for years.

Recently, we were sitting on the bench at the front of the house and Mike spotted a red Damselfly in the edge of the meadow.

We moved to sit on the edge of the path, so we were right down by the Damselfly and could marvel at the colours – the red, banded body, the green sheen on the head, the big golden eyes and the beautiful diaphanous wings.

Mike took some pictures, and here they are….

  • the red damselfly in the grass
  • close up of the red damselfly at a clover head
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2 responses to “The Red Damselfly”

  1. Graeme Walker Avatar
    Graeme Walker

    Lovely words and photos of a Large Red Damselfly. If you can keep a bit of open water, that will help attract damselflies and dragonflies. When searching for new habitats, they respond to polarised light reflecting off open water. Also, please consider submitting records to the Orkney wildlife recording group or the county recorder to help monitor population trends.
    OWRG: orkneywildliferecords@outlook.com
    CR: azurehawker@aol.com or OrkOdo on Facebook

    Reply
  2. berniebell1955 Avatar
    berniebell1955

    Mike intends to skim some of the duck weed off, anytime soon. We wait until the taddies aren’t likely to get caught in the sieve we use for skimming.

    We’re praying for our neighbour’s duck to come and eat some it – but the meadow is a bit dense for them to waddle through at the moment.

    We’ve never thought to report the damselflies – will do so now!

    Just out of interest, this morning a male Common Blue Butterfly was chasing a female in our veg patch. No photo – they were too quick for us.

    Reply

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