Yardley Chase - on 16th June, 2018

On 16th June, I joined an arranged visit to Yardley Chase, which was organised by Mark Tyrrell,  County Dragonfly Recorder for Northamptonshire, on behalf of the British Dragonfly Society. The objective of the visit was to observe Downy Emerald dragonflies at Northamptonshire's only site for this species - and also to see what else was around!

The day before the visit, a look at the weather forecast for the area had it not looking good - cloudy and breezy, with a fair chance of rain later. I phoned to check that the visit was still on as 65 miles (105 km) is a long way to go to find that an event has been cancelled. Mark reassured me that the event would take place and the Downy Emeralds would probably perform for us.

Yardley Chase is an interesting area that is privately owned and not  open to the public. It was originally a Norman hunting chase. During the Second World War it was felt that the rural wooded aspect of the chase would provide good cover for a military storage facility. Most records state that the many bunkers built were for storage of explosives, each one being surrounded by a water-filled moat. However, during the visit, it was also suggested that important national documents, etc. were held here for safe-keeping. I would have thought that the two would be mutually exclusive! Some of the bunkers are still visible.

Military remains - Yardley Chase

In addition to the dragonflies, I was also interested to learn that this place was a great place to find Wood Whites, and we were soon seeing these delightful  little butterflies.

Wood White (Leptidea sinapis) - Yardley Chase

I'm pleased to say that the visit had been restricted to 12 participants - unlike the previous BDS visit I'd attended - and this was a very manageable number. 

It is the remains of the moats that make the area a haven for invertebrate wildlife. The first pond we visited immediately yielded our first Downy Emeralds, although these were constantly on the move and extremely difficult to photograph. 

Mark had done a bit of searching around at the far side of the pond and found a newly emerged Southern Hawker. We went round to have a look and it was a while before someone noticed that one of its forewings had not developed properly.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (teneral male) - Yardley Chase

Also, in the same area, I photographed a Banded Demoiselle.

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Yardley Chase

We then moved on to other ponds, taking a lunch break part way through the visit.  Here are some of the non-dragonfly items that I saw during the visit - I'll leave the dragons to the end.

Donacia semicuprea - Yardley Chase

Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) (male) - Yardley Chase

caterpillar - any ID info would be appreciated - Yardley Chase

Common Frog (Rana temporaria) (froglet) - Yardley Chase

Later in the day these froglets were everywhere and, no doubt, some will have fallen victim to our footfall in the long grass.

It was commented on during our visit that there was a dearth of birds in the area.

To the best of my knowledge, just three Southern Hawkers were seen that day - all teneral and all in some sort of trouble. The first, I have already shown. The second I found with its two forewings bonded together by haemorrhaged fluids. One of our number was able to separate the two wings and it managed to fly. The third I won't show here as it was a very sad case - a female that seemed to have run out of body fluids. Its body wasn't fully expanded and its eyes were clouded over and looked as if they had been deflated. The first two might have made it, but not the third. It was suggested that these were all emerging in long pond-side vegetation that was too dense and were not able to get to an unobstructed position to stretch out as they developed.

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (teneral male) - Yardley Chase

On a happier note, all other species seemed to be doing fine! Here are some:-

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male) - Yardley Chase

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (female) - Yardley Chase

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Yardley Chase

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) (immature males) - Yardley Chase

Emperor (Anax imperator) (female - ovipositing) - Yardley Chase

Emperor (Anax imperator) (exuvia) - Yardley Chase

OK, so I've left the Downy Emeralds to last. Earlier this year I'd seen and photographed my first ever Downy Emeralds in Surrey. On that occasion I'd only managed to get some (fairly reasonable) flight shots - no static shots. Here at Yardley Chase it looked as if I was going to fare even worse. The light was not good for much of the time and my attempts at flight shots didn't come to much at all - here are some 'for the record'.

Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) (male) - Yardley Chase

Suddenly I noticed that people were gathering at a spot on the other side of the pond - a perched Downy Emerald had been spotted. It was still there when I got round to the other side, but it was hard to get an unobstructed photo - at least I was able to witness those rainbow colours on the thorax that I'd heard about.

Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) (male) - Yardley Chase

After everybody had had their fill of this specimen and it was still there, I cleared it with the rest of the group that I could go into the water for a better shot (I was the only one wearing wellies!). It did give me a slightly better shot, but I didn't want to hang around and disturb it.

Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) (male) - Yardley Chase

I'd had an extremely enjoyable and informative day at Yardley Chase, and I take this opportunity to thank Mark Tyrrell for organising the visit and his help and guidance, and the rest of the people there for making it such an enjoyable time. Thank you, all!!

Hopefully, my next post will feature Pt.2 of my visit to the Outer Hebrides - I haven't even started on it yet (life's a bit hectic at the moment)!

Thank you for dropping by.