Hull Dragons: September summary

I didn't think I would write a September summary for Hull Dragons. However, the first three weeks of September were generally dry, sunny and warm - though breezy at times - allowing for plentiful dragonfly surveys. In contrast, the end of the month was very overcast, wet and the temperatures plummeted. Overall, 134 records were submitted to iRecord from 9 species in September by 4 observers. Although fewer species have been active in September compared to August (9 compared to 13), and the general diversity is lower, the spread of the records is increased, with the records coming from 30 km2. 83% of the records were for Common Darter and Migrant Hawker. There were 8 Southern Hawker records and 5 Ruddy Darter records, the remaining species having one or two records each in the month. Most notably, however, a male Willow Emerald was first recorded at East Park. This is not only a great addition to the Hull Dragons survey, but it is the first record for all of East Yorkshire (see my previous post about it here).

With the addition of these records and the dragonfly records submitted through Birdtrack, HullDragons has now accumulated over 500 records, which are far more than I would have anticipated at the start of the survey.

Other than my Willow Emerald twitch, my favourite dragonfly trip this month was at Noddle Hill. The sheltered 'Snake Pass' ride is a favourite haunt of Migrant and Southern Hawker, hunting and sunbathing and both Common and Ruddy darters also favour it. The NW corner of the lake, with a wide belt of marginal vegetation, in a sunny, sheltered corner, had plenty of Migrant Hawker activity, with several mating pairs, two of them sitting close to each other. A male Ruddy Darter was also on territory. The following are some photos of that survey on the 18th of September.

Female Migrant Hawker.

Male Southern Hawker.

Mating Migrant Hawkers.

Mating Common Darter.

The patrolling Migrant Hawker males over the water offered some opportunities for in flight photography.

Male Ruddy Darter on territory.

 List of species recorded on September

1. Southern Hawker
2. Brown Hawker
3. Migrant Hawker
4. Ruddy darter
5. Common Darter
6. Small Red-eyed damselfly
7. WILLOW EMERALD
8. Black-tailed skimmer
9. Common blue damselfly

Note: this will be the last monthly summary for HullDragons this year