What are the chances of that happening?

Life is full of coincidences and Norfolk Wildlife Trust volunteer Derek Longe had a special and rather unusual encounter with a special insect at NWT Thorpe Marshes one evening...

Imagine a damselfly flying well after eight o'clock at night.  It lands onto a photo in a published article about the same species at the same nature reserve. Slim chance you may say? Improbable? Well this actually happened!
 
Here is the photographic proof - 

Willow emerald damselfly admiring a picture of itself, Derek Longe

Mating willow emerald damselflies by Tabs Taberham

The damselfly in question was a male willow emerald damselfly seen at 8.16pm on 19th July 2017 at Thorpe Marshes NWT reserve.  This is a recent coloniser being seen first in Suffolk in 2007 and is rapidly spreading across the south-east of England. The peak emergence time is in August/September and most records range from July to October. This year the first seen nationally was back in June in Essex. Some had been more recently sighted around the local Norwich area so that was not an unexpected species.

Local naturalist and NWT volunteer, Chris Durdin leads monthly walks around Thorpe Marshes NWT reserve.In July, the regular walk is moved to the evening (the June one also) to take advantage of the longer daylight hours. That afternoon was particularly warm and humid, the evening temperate remained above 20C during the duration of the walk.
Warm enough for insects like damselflies to be still active that late in the day.  

At a point where this species has been sighted in previous years, Chris stopped and explained about the willow emerald damselfly and the various tree species it oviposits into. He then mentioned that I had witnessed a pair egg-laying into bramble last September on the reserve and that I had an account of this unusual event recently published in the journal Atropos. Having the article on me, I handed it to the others to have a look at. Whilst one of the group Ann Greenizan had it in her hands to read, a male willow emerald Damselfly magically alighted onto the article photograph. He stayed there just long enough for me to get a couple of photos before flying off, disappearing into the windblown vegetation.

This species has been variously described as "this stunning damselfly","an elusive beauty","enigmatic" and "unique". In my eyes, this surreal combination of real life and printed matter reinforces that "specialness" to me of the willow emerald damselfly!

Thorpe Marshes: dragonflies and damselflies

Chris Durdin, NWT Volunteer

Pretty damsels

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chris Durdin)

Lurking with binoculars to get good views of pretty damsels seems, at first hearing, a little suspicious. But the explanation at Thorpe Marshes is innocent enough: the object of my attention is the Willow Emerald Damselfly.

It’s also known as the Western Willow Spreadwing and the first photo shows where the spreadwing name comes from. The second photo, below, shows how the urge to mate can lead to confusion: it’s a male Common Emerald grasping a female Willow Emerald.

Common Emerald male and Willow Emerald female (Derek Longe)

The distribution map for Willow Emerald in the Atlas of Dragonflies in Britain and Ireland, published in 2014, shows lots of spots in coastal Suffolk and Essex and just the odd one in east Norfolk. But that’s already well out of date: they are in much of Broadland and records are increasing in west Norfolk, the Fens and as far west as Northamptonshire.

That was the gist of the story I explained to last week’s group on the monthly walk at Thorpe Marshes, perfectly timed, I hoped, for this late season damselfly. We know the best spots to see them, on perches over open ditches. Some surface vegetation, such as frogbit, is fine, but once ditches get clogged up with lesser water parsnip and other vegetation the damsels move.

However the best time to see a Willow Emerald here is during the afternoon on a still, sunny day. This morning it was partly cloudy and breezy and the star of the show I had talked up was out of sight.

Orange balsam (Chris Durdin)

Still, the supporting cast was strong. There were blue-eyed Migrant Hawkers, Ruddy and Common Darter dragonflies; various butterflies and other insects were enjoyed along with a host of late summer flowers such as hemp agrimony, water mint and orange balsam. This last species is less dominant than Himalayan balsam, which happily is not established here.

We’d done the circuit round the marshes and, around noon, returned to a favoured spot near the start of the walk. The sun was out now and there it was: a male Willow Emerald on territory, and helpfully still enough to get my telescope onto it. The walks always seem to have a mix of regulars and new attendees and it was especially nice to hear the appreciation of the new people of this fine view. Comments showed that they could see why I am little bit in love with this pretty damsel.

There are certainly 20 Willow Emeralds at Thorpe Marsh this year and probably quite a lot more. After the group had gone, two of us watched one from the railway bridge where you enter the reserve. This one was jostling with a Common Darter for a favoured perch. The Willow Emeralds tend to move if a bigger hawker comes close as they may be prey, but it was striking how similar in size this large damselfly was to the small darter. The dragonfly was twice displaced by the slim damselfly, but the bulkier darter won the tussle in the end.

20/20 visions

The Willow Emerald is the twentieth species of odonata – dragonflies and damselflies – at Thorpe Marshes this year. This is two more than our regular 18 species. The new ones are Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser, though neither was confirmed as breeding. The NWT’s management last winter restored ponds and created patches of open ditch. The latter is where both new species showed; there were several sightings of Broad-bodied Chaser in June and July, often perching on the same twig.

Twenty is an impressive total for our fairly small – 25 hectare – nature reserve. Ever since Pam Taylor, Norfolk’s dragonfly guru, suggested to me that 20 species makes a ‘good site’ the pressure has been on to reach that total. And now we have.

 

Chris Durdin leads monthly wildlife walks at NWT Thorpe Marshes. Details of these and recent sightings on the reserve are on www.honeyguide.co.uk/thorpemarshes.htm.

Trapped!

 Chris Durdin, volunteer guide at Thorpe Marshes
 

Large jawed orb web spider
Tetragnatha montana (Derek Longe)

A damselfly is caught in a spider’s web. The spider is lurking, but taking time to move in for the kill. It’s a red-eyed damselfly, an immature, very recently emerged, an interesting species, but not especially rare.

What would you do? Rescue the damselfly from the web or let nature take its course?

This is happening with a group of a dozen on the Thorpe Marshes monthly wildlife walk who can all see it and are wondering what I’ll do. One of the group is the NWT’s reserves officer. No pressure, then.
 
A snap decision was needed. I released the damselfly and the photo shows it at rest on my telescope’s cover before it flew away.

Red-eyed Damselfly (Chris Durdin)

The feeling of guilt about the spider’s loss of a meal – a large jawed orb web spider, no less – didn’t last. Seconds later, there was a common blue damselfly in the same web. This time the spider was on it immediately: there was no time to ponder the same question.

Well, what would you have done?
 

The bridge is open: the pedestrian entrance into the reserve over the railway bridge in Whitlingham Lane is open again after major repairs. The marshes are looking good after their winter cut by the NWT’s reserve team, who have also rebuilt the main path, installed signs and are adding a pond-dipping for educational use. In short, it’s a great time to visit. 

Chris Durdin leads monthly wildlife walks at NWT Thorpe Marshes. Details of these and recent sightings on the reserve are on www.honeyguide.co.uk/thorpemarshes.htm.

Signs of spring at Ranworth Broad

Jamieson Temple, Visitor Centre Coordinator at Ranworth Broad
Situated in the middle stretches of the River Bure, NWT Ranworth Broad forms part of the larger Bure Marshes National Nature Reserve. Visitors generally start at Ranworth village, with the village green looking out on Malthouse Broad; in the village there is Norfolk Wildlife Trust car park, and just off the green at the Staithe is the NWT Information Centre and ferry departure point. The next part of the journey is to visit the reserve on Ranworth Broad which is of national and international importance for wildlife, and has a very unique floating visitor centre with a beautiful thatched roof. 

Broads Wildlife Centre, photo by David Marney

Our Broads Wildlife Centre can either be accessed via a boardwalk trail leading through woodland and reedbed. The boardwalk starts along Broad Road, which is a five minute walk from the village. There is also a ferry that will take visitors to the centre, this sails four times per day from the Staithe. The centre is open from 10am-5pm; please note there are no dogs allowed and no toilets at the centre.

NWT

swallow, photo by David Marney

Ranworth Broad is home to a great variety of wildlife, over the past month the winter migrants have left, and the summer migrants have arrived. At the Centre, fascinating live camera feeds can be viewed which offer an unrivalled insight of the artificial rafts of nesting common terns, and also some of the multiple swallow nests around the Centre. Away from the screens the swallows and common terns can be seen hunting for insects and fish respectively over Ranworth Broad; along with the majestic great crested grebes.

It

Great crested grebes, photo by David Marney

is easy to fall in love with the great crested grebes, from the elegant physique, prominent colouring, and special mating display; this display is one of the true signs of spring! It starts with a male grebe catching the eye of a female by exaggerating its ruff; the pair then swims face on and they start mirroring each other’s alternating head movements. If the male is successful in this display, the pair swims away, dive down and appear again with mouths full of reed; they then come back together, almost vertically, to start their ‘dance’.

Other wildlife highlights at Ranworth Broad are regular sightings of otters, kingfishers and marsh harriers, along with fen orchid, marsh marigold, and yellow flag iris. Any day now we are expecting the first sightings of our famous swallowtail butterflies, with their large yellow and black wings; and the startling bright green caterpillars feeding on the milk parsley. 

Marsh harrier, photo by David Marney

Come visit NWT Ranworth Broad over the next few weeks to see these incredible species, their magnificent mating displays, and see the intimate footage of nesting swallows and common terns. A great way to see the internationally important wildlife is via the 45 minute ‘guided’ water trail; the expert boat operators on the 12 person Damselfly vessel will help identify all the wildlife, and all the history of the reserve and Broads habitat.

Damsel delights

Chris Durdin, NWT Thorpe Marshes

I’ve come to dragonflies and damselflies rather late. Many birdwatchers know them well: after all, they fly, there’s a limited range of species, and their best time, in high summer, coincides with when it can be quiet in the bird world. But Odonata – that’s dragonflies and damselflies lumped together – are rather special on Norfolk’s marshes, so on my regular visits to NWT Thorpe Marshes I’ve been catching up.

Thorpe Marshes is rightly getting well-known as an easy place to see Norfolk Hawkers close to the city. But the commonest of the 17 dragons and damsel species we’ve found since the reserve was established in 2011 is easily the Common Blue Damselfly. It’s so common that it rather swamps the others and it’s all too easy to overlook similar species. 

Azure Damselfly close-up, showing Coenagrion spur

When Norfolk expert Pam Taylor told me she found Azure Damselflies here in 2013 that prompted me to search for them myself. They’ve been there in May, June and July this year and the photo is of one I crept up on. The close-up shows the ‘Coenagrion spur’ – the black line that abruptly stops part-way across the broad blue stripe on the thorax of this genus. They also strike me as slightly more delicate than Common Blue Damselflies and just a little less blue, for bright males, at least.

Another trick is to search lily pads on the tidal River Yare. Here there are often Red-eyed Damselflies alongside elegant, dancing Banded Agrions and the ubiquitous Common Blues.

Another recent find was Common Emerald Damselfly, rather green as the name suggests.

Common Emerald Damselfly, female

More wildlife news and details of monthly walks on http://www.honeyguide.co.uk/thorpemarshes.htm

A water vole encounter

Jessica Riederer, Seasonal Education Officer

Since I moved to England in 2008 I have been trying to catch a good glimpse of a water vole. I know they are fairly common in Norfolk, that every other person seems to have seen one, and that they can ‘regularly’ be seen in this place or that place – none the less – I have yet to see one. I have heard the familiar ‘plop’ into the water many times and if I stretch my imagination I could probably say that once, at NWT Thorpe Marshes, I saw a streak of dark, wet fur before one disappeared into a dyke, but I certainly have never seen one sitting on its haunches, nibbling on a reed and looking ever so cute as they always seem to be doing in the photographs of the hundreds of people who have not only seen but managed to photograph one.

Water voles aside, for me it was all about dragonflies this weekend. On Saturday I spent three enchanting hours watching an emperor dragonfly on his relentless but elegant patrolling of his lily pad laden pond patch, but on Sunday, I devoted the sweet sticky sunny hours to my favorites – banded damselflies. I live next to the River Tas which hosts a healthy population of them and this morning when they kept visiting my garden, I knew that this would definitely be a good banded damselfly day. 

In shorts and sandals, camera in hand, I strode across the sheep field that borders my house and down to the bridge that crossed the crystal clear waters of the Tas. As suspected, there were more banded’s than I had ever seen. Of course they were not flying anywhere near me - they all seemed to be landing quite low on the foliage just above the water’s surface. Observing and photographing them from the bridge would not work. I needed to get down to the river. This of course would cause considerable pain as there was a good three meter strip of stinging nettles lining it. Fortunately there were no children about as I pushed my bare-legged way through the elbow high nettles enduring considerably more pain than I had envisioned. At the river’s edge I slid down the embankment in a most ungraceful manner and landed thigh deep in water that was much colder than I had hoped. 

Banded damselfly, by Jessica Riederer

Wading through the river I found a nice shallow patch of submerged sandy (and not too silty) gravel to sit on. For an hour I sat, River crowfoot flowering around me, tiny fish darting amongst my toes, and more banded damselflies than I had ever seen, fluttering, chasing, landing, hunting, mating – their dainty iridescent blue and green bodies and the barely audible flap of their wings making me incredibly happy. 

The longer I sat with the river flowing around me, the more life I noticed. The air was thick with insects and I was feeling quite pleased with myself as nothing seemed to be biting me or landing on me although every now and then a banded would land on my camera or my knees that remained poking out of the water. After about an hour, I decided that in actual fact I was cold, and my legs were cramped, and my sandals were not in fact waterproof so perhaps it was time to exit the river.

But then, about 10 feet in front of me, I saw the slightest, graceful movement of something small swimming against the flow of the river, beneath the overhanging vegetation. Leaves were pushed aside and water rippled where it had not rippled before, as a little body made its way closer and closer and - to my absolute disbelieve - out of the water, not three feet from me, emerged a water vole. My heart pounded in my chest and I sat there stupefied. A water vole - not three feet from me! So close! From his bent reed perch, he stared at me, lifted his nose into the air once or twice perhaps trying to detect my presence, but then just carried on doing his water vole thing. I watched in awe as he cleaned his chunky little face and groomed his whiskers with his perfect slender little feet. For once I was not worried about trying to get a photograph – he was far too close for me to focus, but being unable to help myself (and perhaps to assist in my memory) I slowly pointed my camera towards him, leaning back away from him as far as I could, and got one blurry shot. He just continued grooming himself.

The water vole that visited, by Jessica Riederer

After a moment or two, he slid back into the water and I turned to watch him swim up the stream behind me. Not five feet past me I heard – and this time saw – that familiar PLOP as another water vole jumped off the embankment into the water and proceeded to chase my little visitor up and down the overhanging brambles, in and out of the reeds and back and forth under the river behind me – little brown bodies showing ever so clearly though the transparent waters of the Tas. Further upstream another large water vole busied its way towards me on the surface of the water, and after more splashing, all went quiet and it was as if nothing had happened except for the hum of insects and the blissful dainty flight of damselflies. 

Walking home, I couldn’t stop smiling to myself. As I write this, I STILL can’t stop smiling. As one of NWT’s seasonal education officers, I have the opportunity to spend my days at some of Norfolk’s most beautiful places, but I have this thirst to experience as much of Norfolk’s beauty as I can, so on my days off I am constantly on the move, when really I know I need to just slow down – or even sit in a river! By spending time in my own neighbourhood, and just stopping and sitting and listening, I encountered a small but significant animal that I have spent years searching for. I now have lots of scratches and achy legs but I also have one blurry photograph and incredible memories of the day I sat in a river and a water vole came and sat next to me.