Toad and Damselflies in the Lilies
Posted: 19 June 2013
It was another late lunch break when once again our builder David spotted another new creature. This time it was on the lake rather than in it.
It was a lone toad sitting in the curve of a lily leaf. I hoped that it would move into a better position for a photograph, but this view turned out to have been the best of those I took. After five minutes or more I got frustrated with the lack of movement and went inside to continue work only to return again half an hour later to see if things had changed. They had! The toad was gone and not seen again.
However, with my camera in hand I became interested in the Damselflies that were in profusion. It seemed that a major mating event was taking place. I learnt a while ago that Damselflies can be differentiated from Dragonflies because they fold their wings back when at rest, whereas Dragonflies always hold their wings at right-angles to their body.
I assumed that what I was looking at were Common Blue Damselflies. I first became aware of them about a fortnight ago in one of my evening walks around the lake. Then, I spotted them at the far corner from the house, in the North Western corner of the plot. At this point the path passes an embankment covered, at this time of year, with nettles. Embankment and nettles together are up to seven feet tall. The Damsel Flies, therefore, tended to fly around at eye level, so you can't miss them.
Having read a bit more, I now understand that they are Azure Damselflies, subtlety different from the common blue with a U-shaped mark on the second segment of the abdomen and green coloured females.
