New Arrivals Are Doing Well
Anyone who had the pleasure of walking in Wanstead Park on one of the warm and sunny days at the end of July would have realised that this is most definitely not a dull time of year. It may well be quiet – after all, bird song is limited now young birds are in the nest and adults are keen not to draw attention to their vulnerability – but it’s also extremely busy.
Keen to find out how our dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies were faring I went for a wander in the park on the last weekend of the month, taking advantage of warm, calm conditions. In particular I wanted to get a handle on the status of one of our most recent colonists, the Small Red-eyed Damselfly. Its larger cousin, Red-eyed Damselfly, have long been resident of the park but the diminutive version was first seen in the UK (at three coastal sites in Essex) as recently as July 1999. By 2002, ‘SREDs’ had already become abundant in some places in south-east England and since then they have spread even further afield. They were first noted in our area, by Shoulder of Mutton, in the summer of 2007.
At first glance the algal mats at the western end of Heronry Lake, so beloved by these damselflies, seemed unoccupied. It was only after scanning with binoculars that I saw a few dark red eyes. Then something disturbed those eyes’ owners and several took to the air, zigzagging over the green mats like tiny winged sticks.
Without getting good views, or – better still – images with a camera, it can be very tricky separating the two ‘brands’ of red-eyed damselflies. The smaller variety emerges a little later than its cousin. Its eyes are a darker shade of red and its wings are a bit shorter. The best way to tell them apart is to look at the pattern of blue and black near the tip of the abdomen. Yes, these were definitely Small Red-eyes.
It was clear that good numbers were enjoying the warm afternoon, basking in the sunshine on lily pads and algae in Shoulder of Mutton, Heronry and the Ornamental Waters. My estimate of 50 individuals was probably a gross underestimate. Whatever the true figure, they seem to be doing very well.
Wandering into the Bund clearing I kept my eyes peeled in the hope of seeing one of our recently discovered butterflies, Brown Argus. In fact, there were two very coy individuals there, neither allowing a close approach. Half an hour later I found another in the Old Sewage Works. This is a beautiful little insect, one of the ‘blues’ but decidedly un-blue. It first registered on the radars of local naturalists after photos of a tatty ‘Common Blue’ in the Old Sewage Works were re-examined a month after they’d been taken. They showed the distinctive underwing pattern of Brown Argus. Subsequently, Paul Ferris has found ‘fresh’ individuals on The Plain and in the Old Sewage Works (see Wanstead Wildlife website at www.wansteadwildlife.org.uk). This great news follows the discovery of Marbled White in our area for the first time, with sightings in Northumberland Avenue and then the SSSI by Centre Road in early July.
When I got home I listed the species I’d seen: there were 10 different kinds of butterflies and eight species of dragonflies and damselflies. And there’s a whole world of grasshoppers, bush crickets, bees and hoverflies out there to investigate. It’s nice to know that there are so many interesting insects in our area!