Beautiful and Banded demoiselle damselflies

Male Beautiful Demoiselle, Mid Cherwell Valley

Banded Demoiselle - male displaying his wings and "tail light" Upper Cherwell Valley

Pair of Beautiful Demoiselles, female on the right, Mid Cherwell Valley

Male Banded Demoiselle, near Wendlebury

The first warm summer weather of the year has inspired me to post a few photos of our two gorgeous Calopteryx damselflies, currently on the wing along our rivers.  These images were taken over the past six weeks in various locations in the local area.

The River Cherwell supports healthy populations of both species, and in some places they occur together. The Banded Demoiselle C. splendens is much the commoner and often occurs in quite large numbers.  The Beautiful Demoiselle C. virgo, in my experience, tends to prefer the Middle and Upper Cherwell and is most common in the upper reaches.

Although July is traditionally a quiet month for birding, there are lots of young birds around andt is a good time to catch up with the juveniles.  As they are learning the ropes they can be quite confiding - like this Green Woodpecker at Bicester Wetland Reserve this morning - one of two feeding on the mown verge beside the entrance road.

Green Woodpecker - juvenile