Scarce Chaser

After a day and half of marking assignments from Leeds University, I felt I deserved a bit of a day off. Once again, Alex was taking part in the Dragonboat Festival, rowing in the Froglife team, so in the late morning I went down to the Rowing Lake to cheer him on (see extra) and ended up staying fora  barbecue lunch with the Froglife staff.

After the second heat, I went off for a walk round the Boardwalks Nature Reserve, which was a haven of peace after all the hustle and bustle of the event. The weather was strange, hot, windy and surprisingly humid, but this seemed to suit the dragonflies and damselflies, as there were more than I've seen down there for some time. 

I was especially pleased to see at least three male Scarce Chasers Libellula fulva. This species is local in the UK, being characteristic of lowland slow-flowing meandering rivers and large dykes. Inhabited sites characteristically have good water quality, which supports submerged and floating plants as well as prolific stands of emergent vegetation. It has been present on the Nene for a number of years, but is currently expanding its range and these are the first that I've seen in this particular stretch.

The abdomen of the mature male Scarce Chaser is pale blue. Its eyes are also blue. However, prior to maturity the male and female look very similar having deep orange colouration, black triangular shaped markings on the upper surface of each abdominal segment and dark bases to the wings. This individual is a young male - there are still traces of orange along the body and the abdomen is a pristine powder blue without any black patches which are usually the result of aerial territorial battles.