Number 2 earned herself an ice-cream by finding my first Orthetrum cancellatum of the year at Vysterborg this afternoon.
Had an hour at Klarningen in the morning. After some overnight rain there was some evidence of an influx of Tringa and I did my best to find something exciting but had to settle for common sandpiper (1), green sandpiper (1), greenshank (3) and wood sandpiper (12+). Two male garganeys and two male gadwall floated about.
In the afternoon Number 2 and I took advantage of the sunny, albeit slightly chilly, weather and headed to the ponds at nearby Vysterborg. I started looking at this site last year as part of my dragonfly atlas work and it has produced 13 species to date. Today the big surprise was a single female Sympecma fusca. I had almost given up hope of finding this species in BK when one just flutters up in front of me. Small, drab and brown it landed on a twig close to the ground and the alarm bells rang. Number 2 obediently went into statue mode, whilst I got the all-important confirmatory photo and then we caught it for a more leisurely examination. What a result. Probably a first for NW Skåne.
Here she is! A female Sympecma fusca, the first record for BK. When I moved here the BK Odonata list on Artportalen stood at a meagre 5 species. Since then myself and others have taken the total to 39!
Also flying at Vysterborg today were Coenagrion pulchellum, Enallagma cyathigerum, Ischnura elegans, Brachytron pratense, Libellula quadrimaculata and my first Orthetrum cancellatum of the year.
Mmmm! Abdomen tip.
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