It has been a pretty poor season for our insects on the reserve. The numbers of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies have been well down on previous seasons. Our most common butterfly on the reserve is the speckled wood and their numbers have been well down. In fact in May and June I could count on one hand how many speckled wood I had seen on the reserve. Thankfully over the last few weeks the numbers have picked up and I am seeing a significant number of Speckled Wood.

Butterflies are surprisingly feisty being pretty territorial and we see them battling on a regular basis throughout the summer.

Our damselflies have only appeared in smaller than normal numbers, usually we have large numbers  of large red, common blue, azure, blue-tailed and emeralds.

Our dragonflies have not fared much better, the wet weather in April/May/June I believe is the main cause.

The first to emerge is the broad-bodied chaser.

The broad-bodied chasers are followed by southern and migrant hawkers.

Then finally the common darters appear.

The southern hawkers probably fared the best of the dragonflies. The common darters were late to appear but we are now seeing a significant increase in numbers. Just this last few days we have seen common hawker appear.

We are continually trying to increase and improve our insect habitats with extensive formation of brush and log piles which we will cover with fallen leaves, from the paths, that fall during the autumn. The addition of five bee hives is also a significant boost to insect numbers. We now also have four ponds of various sizes that obviously is a significant help for our aquatic insects.