Odonata at Ultima Frontiera (Romania)

Four species of Lestes were on the wing at Ultima Frontiera this week. Lestes barbarus were rather localised but could be found with a little patience.

A full list of species recorded in Romania between 15th and 19th of June appears at the end of the page.

I do not see many Lestes parvidens, so it was nice to bump into this species in the more shaded riparian wetlands bordering the Danube.

 Much more familiar though were the Lestes dryas that popped up in similar habitat.

The big Lestes here though is Lestes macrostigma, always a special odo. I found just two males whilst my colleagues worked a lovely shallow lagoon for waterbirds.

I found just two newly-minted Sympecma fusca on the property.

After the excitement of adding Selysiothemis nigra to the Romanian odofauna on the first day we went on to find another five or so in the drier, sandier areas of the property. A lifer for me.

My other lifer of the trip was Orthetrum albistylum, reasonably common amongst the cancellatums.

Anax parthenope outnumbered imperator by a large margin and together they were the only aeshnids we could find.

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Banded demoiselle	Calopteryx splendens	Along the banks of the Danube and it’s larger backwaters. ancilla?
Robust spreadwing	Lestes dryas	Rather localised at UF, found at one pond.
Migrant spreadwing	Lestes barbarus	Small numbers daily at UF.
Dark spreadwing	Lestes macrostigma	Just two males noted at one spot in UF.
Eastern willow spreadwing	Lestes parvidens	Small numbers around the periphery of UF.
Common winter damsel	Sympecma fusca	Two fresh individuals encountered at UF.
Common bluetail	Ischnura elegans	Abundant.
Small bluetail	Ischnura pumilio	One male at the wetland site before we had lunch en route to the delta.
Common bluet	Enallagma cyathigerum	A few at the wetland site before we had lunch en route to the delta.
Variable bluet	Coenagrion pulchellum	Scarce in the delta?
Small red-eye	Erythromma viridulum	Common and widespread.
Blue featherleg	Platycnemis pennipes	Common in the delta.
Emperor	Anax imperator	Present in the delta in good numbers.
Lesser emperor	Anax parthenope	Quite common at the wetland before lunch en route to the delta.
Black-tailed skimmer	Orthetrum cancellatum	Widespread.
White-tailed skimmer	Orthetrum albistylum	One male at the wetland en route to the delta.
Ruddy darter	Sympetrum sanguineum	Small numbers around the periphery at UF.
Red-veined darter	Sympetrum fonscolombii	Single male at the lake en route to the delta.
Common darter	Sympetrum striolatum	A few at UF.
Southern darter	Sympetrum meridionale	The commonest Sympetrum.
Broad scarlet	Crocothemis erythraea	Abundant in the delta and a few elsewhere.
Black pennant	Selysiothemis nigra	Five individuals, all female, recorded in the drier, sandier areas of UF. First record for Romania?

the last Lestes

The first week of our holiday was a wash-out, poor weather and a car crash put paid to that. Once we were mobile again we finally got down to Île de Ré for our 'week on the beach' with friends. This worked well and had the added wildlife bonus of a crack at the small Atlantic population of Lestes macrostigma. These enigmatic brackish-tolerant damselflies are found here in dense stands of sedges in old salt pans and were only recently discovered on the Atlantic coast of France. With such narrow habitat preferences and a naturally low density I was not exactly filled with confidence.

I need not have worried though because on our first bike ride, I stopped at the first suitable looking 'pool' and waded in to the vegetation, quickly finding that Lestes barbarus were abundant and turning up a fine male Lestes macrostigma. The 'pool' was as dry as a bone but the barbarus were busy ovipositing all the same. Nothing like optimism. This patch of habitat was in fact unusual and we only found one other like it during the week and this did not produce macrostigma despite extensive searching. A return to the original site produced a pair of macrostigma the next day and I left the island feeling rather pleased with myself.

My last European Lestes species - a female Lestes macrostigma - a splendid animal and hard to find on the Île de Ré.

and the male.

Huge numbers of Lestes barbarus were present in the ephemeral wetlands of Île de Ré.

Odd to see Aeshna affinis, another ephemeral wetland specialist, holding territory over dry ponds on the landward edge of the saltmarsh.

A year ago this week

Dice snake Natrix tessellata, common along the waterways of southern Turkey, in a similar niche to our grass snake. I paid for catching this one though, like grass snakes they exude a powerful smelling substance from their cloacas... It took a two days of pine resin and scrubbing to free my hands of the smell!

Lestes barbarus - always good to see

Onychogomphus forcipatus - a splendid gomphid present in good numbers during our stay in southern Turkey

Gomphus schneideri - another great gomphid, slightly more local than the species above but often common where found

This time last year I was searching southern Turkey for dragonflies...

27/6/08 Esenköy and the Urluca River
The last day arrived and after shopping for our lunch, Turkish Delight and ‘evil eyes’ we headed off. Our first stop was a small stream just outside Esenköy. It was still early and not much seemed to be happening until Roy found a small group of Lestes barbarus – a welcome addition to the trip-list. We spent sometime with these damsels. Also here a single Caliaeschna batted past.

Driving on we tackled the hill climb up to the Urluca River. We spent the rest of the day here. Diversity was low but several species were found in very good numbers. The dense drifts of Platycnemis and banks of Caleopteryx splendens were especially noteworthy. We also found our first Sympetrum fonscolombii and enjoyed many Onychogomphus forcipatus and smaller numbers of Gomphus schneideri. Emperors patrolled the river and Libellula depressa were frequently encountered. After lunch we went upstream a way finding many teneral gomphids and a large dice snake. Birds were very noticeable up here and we enjoyed excellent views of black-headed, cirl and corn bunting.

Leaving the river we worked a long roadside drain and found Ischnura elegans and pumilio and small numbers of Coenagrion puella. By this time the day had once again disappeared and we headed back to the hotel. En route Hassan kindly invited us in to his house and we took tea and fruit with his family. After enjoying our first Turkish çay and Hassan’s hospitality we headed back to base to pack our bags, call the log and try and get some sleep before we had to transfer to the airport.