Whilst walking along the east end of Perch Pond on 7th August, I stopped to investigate both the plants along the pond’s bank, and to watch the various dragonflies and damselflies flying along there. There were several of the various ‘blue’ damselflies, a Brown Hawker, a female Emperor Dragonfly (egg-laying), but the only one I managed to photograph was a red darter. Closer examination showed it to be a Ruddy Darter, which is less abundant than the similar looking Common Darter. The most obvious distinctions are that the Ruddy Darter’s waisted abdomen is more of a blood-red colour, whilst the Common Darter’s is a slightly paler orange-red, and is not a waisted shape, ie it is more straight. Also the RD’s head is red, whilst the CD’s is brown; and the RD’s legs are black, whilst the CD’s are brown. There are a few more ID distinctions, but to see them you would either have to look more closely at the creature – perhaps via binoculars – to observe its different markings, or study any photographs which you have taken later, and check them with a field-guide.
Two days later I found another Ruddy Darter, this time on Shoulder of Mutton Pond. A Black-tailed Skimmer and an Emperor were both ‘patrolling’ there, and there were several of the ‘blue’ damselflies. Some of the blue damselflies looked decidedly shorter – and they turned out to be Small Red-eyed Damselflies, a fairly recent colonist in the UK.
Kathy Hartnett