Small Red-eyed Damselflies

My only previous sighting of a Small Red-eyed Damselfly (SRED) in Leicestershire was of a male and female at Brascote Pits. However, that pit has been out of bounds for two years. With all this lovely sunshine surely this summer is going to be as good as any to find more?

Well last weekend Adey Baker and I found a small number at Croft Quarry Nature Trail pond. They were out on the small lillypads and so distant for photography.

SRED is a recent colonist to the UK with the first sighting dating back to 1999. The first Leicestershire record was in 2006 at Priory Water.

Yesterday I located at least thirty individuals on two newish ponds near Cotesbach. The ponds are quite shallow, so I went for a paddle and got very close to some of these tiny little beauties. Today I made more discoveries at Mere Lane Lake, Bittesby where there may have been over 100 and Shawell GP where I saw half a dozen and also a few Large Red-eyed Damselflies as well.

Male Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Female Small Red-eyed Damselfly

A few Emerald Damselflies were frequenting a small pond at Cotesbach Landfill site, which was a new record for the site.

Emerald Damselfly