DAVID'S NATURE BLOG: August 2026

1 AUGUST 2026 - SOUTHERN COUNTRY PARK (SCP)

Due to the recent hot weather - which almost always plays havoc with my Diabetes - I hadn’t been out of the house, with the garden my only refuge as far as seeing nature and photographing it is concerned. But Mike Harris (one of my birding friends) had reported seeing Emerald Damselflies at SCP, and I truly wanted to go over to see them as I hadn’t seen any local ones since those in 2019 at Stansted Airport Lagoons (SAL). But had to wait until the heat began to wane - and today was the day, with the temperature dropping to a more reasonable level, though still remaining hot again later in day according to the forecast.

I was careful not to go too early, because the last time was at SCP the butterflies and dragonflies didn’t seem to appear until around 1045 hrs, so I had a longish wait before I could begin any photography.

I arrived at 11.00 hrs and made my way directly to the ‘Old Pond’ where Mike had seen the Emerald Damselflies, with just a casual look on the way for any sign of other dragonfly species, without seeing any, which I thought was a bit strange. At the pond there was a little bit of dragonfly activity, mainly down to the territorial behaviour of male Common Darters - which appeared to be aggressive to other males of the same species, as well as male Ruddy Darters - but there was no sign of any Emeralds.

I waited a good while - probably about 30 minutes - then decided to return later in the day and made my way up to the ‘Maze’ area - which is a designated area for wildflowers, and where Mike reported many Painted Ladies and a few Clouded Yellows the week before. But there was hardly a butterfly in sight, with just three Painted Ladies (two were still in good condition); four Small Heaths; one Brown Argus, and a superb Hummingbird Hawk Moth, which resolutely refused to settle and allow even one photograph! So, I made my way back to the ‘Old Pond’.

There was still no sign of any Emeralds, and I was getting a bit despondent and about to call it a day here, when I caught sight of a damselfly that wasn’t a Blue-Tailed, and which alighted on a branch of bramble about ten feet away from me; but of course, I’d forgotten to bring my binoculars, so I couldn’t get a closer view, other than through the telephoto on my camera. But the views I could get were inconclusive, before the insect was dislodged by a Common Darter, and I lost it. Then I think I picked up what I assumed to be a pair in tandem further away, but again the Common Darters pushed them off. Fortunately, the single Emerald returned to the same bramble branch, so I fired off a single shot before, the Common Darter dislodged it, and I couldn’t pick it up again. How frustrating!

I then turned to the Chalky Bank hoping to see more butterflies, but there was no repeat of the tremendous numbers I’d witnessed a couple of weeks back, with only two more Painted Ladies, and a few Brown Argus, although Common Blues were still in good numbers - mostly seemingly quite large males, but even they were not settling long enough to photograph them. Back at the lake, only Common and Ruddy Darters were seen, and although I searched hard for a Willow Emerald, I was disappointed in that regard. Round by the ‘feeding station’ all I saw were a few Mallards; a couple of Moorhens, and a juvenile rat which was very camera shy! At the northern exit to the park, as I rested on a seat to take some refreshment, a Brown Hawker flew close by, but that was the only ‘large’ species of Odonata I saw.

Back home, I processed my photographs, concentrating on the photo of the Emerald Damselfly. Through enlarging the image - and thankfully the telephoto gave a lovely sharp image - I was reasonably sure it was indeed a Common Emerald, but sent it to Mike for confirmation, which he kindly did.