Go to latest entry.....................................Go to previous entry2 July - Over the last month the pond has seen very little obvious change beyond the constant growth of the plants. I didn't spend any time doing any pond dipping in June and I hope to make up for that this month.
Yesterday was the first time I have seen a damselfly by the pond this year, and this was a fleeting glimpse - it disappeared as soon as I started to take photographs. I haven't looked through my books to identify it as yet.
The way the wings have been torn off suggests that the dragonfly may have been caught by a bird. Measuring nearly 5cm long the wings have a small white patch on the outer part of the leading edge.
3 July - One thing I didn't point out in yesterday's entry was that the hind wing shown above actually had a flatworm inside it when I found it. Parts of the wing had become 'delaminated' , which is why it looks as though it has been folded in several places. When I put the wing back into water this morning I was able to peel off parts of the separated layer. It's amazing to think that the wing isn't just a single flim of tissue.
The presence of this suggests that the wings belonged to the adult that had emerged.
11 July - Since the last entry I haven't seen any other Dragonflies in the garden, although we have a visit from a similar damselfly to the one pictured above (perhaps the same one?).
The frogs are very active in the shadier parts of the garden. I have to take care whenever I scatter food for the birds under the Hawthorn as there are inevitably a couple of frogs there. I saw the first 'this year' frog yesterday when I pulled out a leavy plant that had sprung up amongst the liverworts In the pond there are still tadpoles with no legs as well as others in the proce of change. Similarly there are newtlets which are well developed while others look as though they have just hatched. |
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