Finland July 28th - August 4th 2012 Part 2

I spent the latter part of my week in Finland at two sites near Helsinki. Pikku Sorlampi is a small forest lake with spagnum moss margins and probably one of Helsinki's premier sites for odonata. The other key site I visited was Sarkkaniemi, a coastal site with brackish ponds and reeds.

Videograbs from my trip DVD. See Trip DVD's for sale.

Pikku Sorlampi

Pikku Sorlampi is a great site for Siberian Hawker (Aeshna crenata), the largest of the European Hawkers.

Male Siberian Hawker
Aeshna crenata

The large size and all blue abdominal markings of the mature male make this species pretty easy to identify

Male Siberian Hawker
Aeshna crenata

The stem of the "T" mark on the frons is broad although I think this feature is pretty useless in the field.

Broad shoulder stripes and eye colour also help split this from other Hawkers,

Female Siberian Hawker
Aeshna crenata

The female has distinctive brown  bands in the wings.

Female Siberian Hawker
Aeshna crenata

Male Dark (Eastern) White-faced Darter
Leucorrhinia albifrons

Male Dark (Eastern) White-faced Darter
Leucorrhinia albifrons

Female Dark (Eastern) White-faced Darter
Leucorrhinia albifrons

Dark (Eastern) White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia albifrons) was present in large numbers at Pikku Sorlampi which was unexpected as they usually are at the end of their season by late July.

They have a close resemblance to Lillypad White-faced Darter (L. caudalis) but can be separated by the dark pterostigma, pale patches on the side of the labium (lower jaw), narrower abdomen and reduced blue prunosity  on the upper abdomen.







Females are a little trickier but they have different abdominal markings and share feature of males in having pale patches on the labium which is helpful (although not visible in this picture)

Male Brilliant Emerald
(Somatochlora metallica)

Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica) was pretty common in  Finland and reasonably numerous at Pikku Sorlampi. A difficult species to video as they rarely settled.

Male Downy Emerald
Cordulia aenea

Male Downy Emerald
Cordulia aenea

A couple of late Downy Emeralds (Cordulia aenea) were a surprise.

Male White-faced Darter
Leucorrhinia dubia

Species seen at Pikku Sorlampi:

3/8/12
Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) 50
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) Common
Arctic Bluet (Coenagrion johanssoni) 1
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 2
Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica) 10
Siberian Hawker (Aeshna crenata) 8
Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) 5
Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica) 2
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) 2
White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) 10
Dark Whiteface (Leucorrhinia albifrons) 25
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 10

4/8/12

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) Common
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) Common
Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum) 2
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 6
Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) 6
Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica) 10
Siberian Hawker (Aeshna crenata) 10
Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) 2
Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica) 6
Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata) 1
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) 2
White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) 20
Dark Whiteface (Leucorrhinia albifrons) 40
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 20
Vagrant Darter [sp] (Sympetrum vulgatum) 2

The other key site I visited near Helsinki was Sarkkaniemi. The main target here was Baltic Hawker. I saw about 10 of these around a very brackish and stagnant pond. The males patrol the pond margins working in and out of the dense reed stems. You can hear them hitting the reed stems as they search for females. Unfortunately I was not able to video any females but did get this male.

Male Baltic Hawker
Aeshna serrata/osiliensis

Male Baltic Hawker
Aeshna serrata/osiliensis

The Baltic Hawker (Aeshna serrata) is very similar to Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea). The main identification features of Baltic Hawker are the narrower base of the "T" mark on the frons and the larger/more deeply blue abdominal spots.











Species seen on a late afternoon visit to Sarkkaniemi:

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) 20
Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 3
Baltic Hawker (Aeshna serrata) 10
Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) 20
Vagrant Darter [sp] (Sympetrum vulgatum) 2

Yellow-winged Darter in tandem
Sympetrum flaveolum

Male Vagrant Darter
Sympetrum vulgatum

Note the extensive black border around the frons which gives Vagrant Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum) it's alternative name of "Moustached" Darter. This is a key feature when splitting this species from Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum).

I thoroughly enjoyed my week in Finland and apart from an afternoon and a morning that rain stopped play, I was very lucky with the weather. My biggest disappointment was not getting footage of Arctic Bluet although I did see a few. I can see a return visit to Finland not being too far away.

Finland July 28th - August 4th 2012 Part 1

After several years of going to Scotland to attempt to video Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea), I decided after last years trip which was the usual mix of sitting in the car in the rain all day and about twenty minutes sunshine in three days, to sort out a back up plan.

Being keen to video Azure Hawker and getting fed up of the vagaries of the Scottish weather, the plan was hatched to go and get them on the continent. I had sites in the Alps but thought Scandanavia was a much better bet. What clinched the choice, was also knowing that Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) was in most years a common species in Finland. After some email discussion with Sami Karjalainen who provided me with site information, local contacts and the Finnish Odonata database.

http://www.hatikka.fi/public_query2.php?queryid=0.339

Add to the mix, a whole new set of boreal Hawkers, 2 new White-faced Darters, Green Snaketail

(Ophiogomphus cecilia), Arctic Bluet (Coenagrion johanssoni) and at some great Emerald species, Finland was the obvious choice.

I must take this opportunity to thank Sami and also give special mention to Mikka Friman who joined me at Millykoski rapids and Janne Heimonen who spent an afternoon with me at Katageneva Toivaka.

This blog page does not represent a day by day account but provides a summary of the great places I visited and the species seen.

Videograbs from my trip DVD. See Trip DVD's for sale.

I arrived at Helsinki airport late at night so spent the night at the airport hotel before collecting my hire car the following morning. The first site I visited was Millykoski rapids where I met up with Mikka. This site is superb for Green Snaketail (Ophiogomphus cecilia).

Male Green Snaketail
Ophiogomphus cecilia

Male Green Snaketail
Ophiogomphus cecilia

 Other species seen at Millykoski were:


Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) 30
Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) 10
White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) 25
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 3
Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) 1
Green Snaketail (Ophiogomphus cecilia) 20
Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) 8

Green Snaketail
Ophiogomphus cecilia

At the time I was sure I saw an Emperor Dragonfly but subsequent discussions with Sami have told me that it is extremely rare in Finland. The trouble is I hardly gave it a second look as it is a common species in the UK. I wish I had been more thorough at the time.

Male Yellow-winged Darter
Sympetrum flaveolum

Female Yellow-winged Darter
Sympetrum flaveolum

It was fantastic to get film of Green Snaketail and Yellow-winged Darter on the same day.

My next site visited was Katajeneva Toivaka, approximately 2.5 hours north of Helsinki. The target species here was Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea). This species is uncommon in Southern Finland and this site was reported to be one of the most reliable sites in the south. This proved to be correct and I quickly located many males, even finding them on the road as you drive to the site. Filming a female took me the best part of three days however.

Male Azure Hawker
Aeshna careulea

Female Azure Hawker
Aeshna careulea

Male Azure Hawker
Aeshna careulea

Note the absence of any pale shoulder stripes in the female and the very pale (nearly invisible on this individual) shoulder stripe on the male.

Stand around for long enough in a pale shirt and the Azure Hawkers think you are a tree.

Looking on pale rocks and trees is absolutely the best way to find this species.

This site also provided my first Bog Hawkers (Aeshna subartica) which are very similar to Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) which also occurred, and take a while to sort out.

Male Bog Hawker
Aeshna subarctica

Male Bog Hawker
Aeshna subarctica

Male Bog Hawker
Aeshna subarctica

Male Bog Hawker (2nd Individual)
Aeshna subarctica

Male Bog Hawker (3rd Individual)
Aeshna subarctica

Male Common Hawker
Aeshna juncea

Note that the costa (leading edge of the fore-wing) is yellow in Common Hawker as opposed to straw brown coloured in Bog Hawker. Another good feature is the yellow markings (central to each segment) on the abdomen are neat on the Common Hawker but more frilled and larger on the Bog Hawker.

Male Common Hawker
Aeshna juncea

Northern Emerald
Somatochlora arctica

Northern Emerald was seen around the roadside ditches. The male has the diagnostic "earwig" type claspers.

Yellow-spotted Emerald
Somatochlora flavomaculata

Yellow-spotted Emerald was quite common at Katejeneva although it took me while to identify them as the yellow spots are not exactly obvious. The yellow band across top of the abdomen is a good feature (White in Alpine Emerald).









Species seen at Katajeneva Toivaka:

30/7/12

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) 2
Arctic Bluet (Coenagrion johanssoni) 3
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 3
Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea) 20
Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) 20
Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica) 10
Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata) 10
Northern Emerald (Somatochlora arctica) 10
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 5
   Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) 3

31/7/12
Northern Damselfly (Coenagrion hastulatum) 2
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 1
Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea) 10
Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) 6
Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica) 10
Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata) 10
Northern Emerald (Somatochlora arctica) 2
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 2

1/8/12
Arctic Bluet (Coenagrion johanssoni) 1
Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) 3
Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea) 15
Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) 6
Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica) 2
Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata) 5
Northern Emerald (Somatochlora arctica) 1
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 2

I saw Arctic Bluet at this site but was unable to video it.

Male Black Darter
Sympertum danae

Male Scarce Copper
Lycaena virgaureae

This roadside ditch near Toivaka held the following:


Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) 6
Northern Damselfly (Coenagrion hastulatum) 4
Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) 2
Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica) 2
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) 10
Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) 100

Northern Damselfly in cop
Coenagrion hastulatum

Male Northern Damselfly
Coenagrion hastulatum

Male Northern Damselfly
Coenagrion hastulatum

A lake about 5 kilometres south of Katejaneva Toivaka provided my only Lillypad Whiteface (Leucorrhinia caudalis) of the trip as I was a little late in the season.

Male Lillypad Whiteface 
(Leucorrhinia caudalis)

France, Cele Valley, La Brenne and Le Barre de Monts, 13-15/6/2012

We arrived at the Camping Le Moulin Vieux the previous evening in the rain. I had really been looking forward to returning to this site as I had spent a week there in 2011. The last time I visited it was extremely hot and there was lots to see in and around the shallow river.

This morning the river was like this.

Last year it was like this!

Videograbs from my Trip DVD. See Trip DVD's for sale.

The weather today was largely overcast with intermittent rain and the odd 10 minute sunny spell but cold.

Anyway making the best of it, we searched around the meadows and managed to turn up a few odds and ends.

White-legged Damselfly
Platycnemis pennipes

Male White-legged Damselfly
Platycnemis pennipes

Camping Le Moulin Vieux

Western Demoiselle (Calopteryx xanthostoma) 150

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) 20

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) 2

Orange Featherleg (Platycnemis acutipennis) 20

White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) 20

Lake near St Eulalie

Western Demoiselle (Calopteryx xanthostoma) 30

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) 10

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 20

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) 10

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 1

Blue-Eye (Erythromma lindenii) 1

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) 6

White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) 10

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)3

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) 20

Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea)5

Orange Featherleg (Platycnemis acutipennis) 20

Marbled Fritillary
Brenthis daphne

Male Western Demoiselle
Calopteryx  xanthostom

Early on the 13th we left the area to head for La Brenne. We arrived Le Parc de Maison, Le Bouchet by mid morning. The pond in front of the restaurant was an excellent site for Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum)

Female Dainty Damselfly
Coenagrion scitulum 

We easily found at least 50 as the sun began to emerge

Male Dainty Damselfly
Coenagrion scitulum 

Immature Male Dainty Damselfly
Coenagrion scitulum 

Our species count at this site was as follows:

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 10

Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum) 50

Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) 2

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) 1

Our next site visited was the north east side of Bellabouche in the early afternoon. Here we saw our first White-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum) and big numbers of Migrant (Southern) Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus).

Female White-tailed Skimmer
Orthetrum albistylum

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) 6

Migrant Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus) 150

Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestes viridis) 1

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 20

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 2

Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) 2

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) 1

Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva) 1

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) 10

White-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum) 3

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) 5

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) 500

Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) 4

Next we visited the south eastern side Bellabouche. There was a very nice Heronry here with Purple Heron being the predominant species.

Female Small Emerald
Lestes virens

We saw the following:

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) 2

Migrant Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus) 50

Small Spreadwing [sp] (Lestes virens) 2

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 30

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 20

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) 100

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) 1

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) 2

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) 20

We spent the night at a beautiful municipal campsite at Rosnay.

Early the following morning we visited a common just to the south of Rosnay to look for orchids before the weather warmed up.

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Here we saw plenty of Small Tongue orchid although most were past their best. We also saw Lesser Butterfly Orchid.

We then went to Cherine with a brief stop at Etang Foucault on the way. We had hoped to find Lillypad Whiteface (Leucorrhinia caudalis) at Cherine although we were informed that the pond in which they breed had almost dried up in last years hot weather meaning that they were no longer there. Hopefully they will re-colonise.

Immature Female Southern Migrant Hawker
Aeshna affinis 

However in the car park at the information centre we found a nice immature female Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis).



Species seen at Cherine:

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 1
Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) 1
Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) 1
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) 1
Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) 1
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) 10
Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale) 1
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) 1



















European Pond Terrapins were also at this site.

We than went to Etang de Vieux in the early afternoon and returning again to this site in the late late afternoon.
Our main quarry here was Yellow-spotted Emerald. Although we saw one individual, I was unable to film it. There was also an outside chance of Lillypad Whiteface (Leucorrhinia caudalis) but we could not locate any.

Male Scarce Chaser
Libellula fulva

We did see the folowing at Etang de Vieux:

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) 3
Migrant Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus) 2
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 2
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) 2
Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum) 2
Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) 20
Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum) 1

Female Orange Spotted Emerald
Oxygastra curtisii

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) common
Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) 1
Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) 1
Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) 2
Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) 1
Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata) 1
Orange-spotted Emerald (Oxygastra curtisii) 1
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) 4
Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva) 50
Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) 50
White-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum) 2
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) 50

We had a brief return visit to the south eastern side of Bellabouche but saw nothing new.

On the 15th June we left our campsite in Rosnay and drove for a couple of hours to the coastal town of
Le Barre de Monts, in the Pays de Loire. Here we had by prior arrangement arranged permission to access a restricted site at Ecomuseum de Daviaud where Dark Spreadwing (Lestes macrostigma) could be found.

Female Dark Spreadwing
Lestes macrostigma

Thew weather today was becoming increasingly windy and cloudy as the day progressed. We were however lucky to see numerous Dark Spreadwings as they kept low in the thick club rush habitat. This required wading into water which was almost above wellington boot level.

Female Dark Spreadwing
Lestes macrostigma

Male Dark Spreadwing
Lestes macrostigma

Migrant Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus) 100

Dark Spreadwing (Lestes macrostigma) Numerous (in a restricted area)
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) 4
Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum) 1
Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) 1
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) 20
Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale) 50









Also at this site there were good numbers of teneral Southern Darter. Identification features include the relatively plain thorax sides, extensive amount of yellow on the legs, Black on frons longer than striolatum, shorter than vulgatum and slightly pinched. S sanguinium obviously ruled out on leg colour and shoulder stripes. On showing these to others, the following was also added "the bold thoracic stripes with a dark area between them, somewhat reminiscent of Black Darter S. danae, are also a good guide for (young) female S. meridionale"

Teneral Female Southern Darter
Sympetrum meridionale

Teneral Male Southern Darter
Sympetrum meridionale

Teneral Female Southern Darter
Sympetrum meridionale
(Taken the day before at Cherine)

We left the area by early afternoon as it started to rain. Our final day in France was meant to be spent at a site  Etang de Joreau near Gennes but unfortunately the weather was not kind to us with rain and cool temperatures prevailling until we decided to leave at lunchtime.Our targets of Lillypad Whiteface (Lecorrhinia dubia) and Dark Whiteface (Leucorrhinia albifrons), would have to wait for another time.