Dragon action - green-eyed hook-tailed dragonfly

Since Tuesday’s avian excitement I have been more interested in dragons and butter.

The exceptionally hot temperatures continue with nighttime minimum around 20C and is getting up close to 30C in the day. Butterflies which I still think there are generally few of have been in constant movement which is I assume a sign that energy levels are high and that all that is important now is to find a mate. This makes identifying them difficult especially blues where more than one species can fly together.

Dragonflies have been far more cooperative though. The male Broad-bodied Chaser (blåbredlibelle) is still by his puddle but I have seen no female there. Common Blue Damseflies (innsjøvanymfe) are now on the wing and there good numbers of Golden-ringed Dragonflies (kongelibelle). On Thursday I wanted to find tangelvelibelle (Onychogomphus forcipatus, the small pincertail or green-eyed hook-tailed dragonfly). This species is know from only one site in Oslo which is in Maridalen. I have seen the species once before in the mouth of a Yellowhammer but have really wanted to see it properly as it is quite a special species. I had the Beast with me on Thursday and we sat at various points along the river hoping to see one but failed in that quest although there were lots of other dragons and damsels to see. I asked for advice on how to see it and was told that it was still early in the season and that my best bet might be to search for emerging individuals. Yesterday I went with my canine friend and sat myself down once again in a likely spot. I noticed a Fieldfare on the bank on the other side with a mouth full of food and saw that it had a newly emerged dragon in its beak which looked very much to be my target. Going round to the other side I almost immediately chanced upon a dragonfly emerging from its larve form on a stone. The separated eyes told me it was my target and I then sat down to enjoy the spectacle. When I found it it was still in the process of emerging but this went quickly. I then watched it drying out and getting bigger before over the course of an hour its colours developed and it then flew off (after having made an initial hop up from the stone to a neighbouring bush). In the same area I found two adult males but I only found the when they flew up in front of me and they were not patrolling like the other species I encountered.

At the Three-toed Pecker nest the young are now coming up to the hole to be fed but are not yet sticking their heads out.

First a series of pictures all taken with my mobile showing the developement of the young males tangelvlibelle

10:30 - still emerging

10:34 - it popped out very quickly. Here the wings are still crumpled

10:39 . the wings are drying out and are longer than the body

10:51 - now the body is growing and is longer than the wings. It is also getting more colour

10:53 . it then flew about a meter and stayed here for around 40 minutes

11:19 - colours developing even more as is the shape of the (male) sexual organ. The black wing cells are also more obvious

11:30 - even stronger colours although still not tose of an "adult". It disappeared shortly after this

after spending 3-5 years as a nymph it must be quite a bummer to end up in the mouth of Firldfare before even having your first flight..

a fully developed male. Look at the characteristic sexual organ!

the eyes not meeting is characteristic of the family it belongs to 

can be identified by its shadow 

Beautiful Damselfly (blåpraktvannymfe)

Grey Wagtail (vintererle)

mating Common Blue Damselflys (innsjøvannymfe)

Golden-ringed Dragonfly (kongelibelle) 

Cranberry Blue (myrblåvinge)

Grey Wagtail and a young White Wagtail (linerle)

a cool moth - a Clouded Buff (rødfrynset bjørnespinner)

the male Three-toed Pecker delivering food

a youngter is just about visible in the hole

the male Broad-bodied Chaser (blåbredlibelle) still going strong

and what I believe is a Large Wall Brown (klipperingvinge) although probably not possible to distinguish from Northern Wall Brown (bergringvinge) from this picture