Paul Spear has sent in some lovely photos of the first Common Clubtails seen at Coalbrookdale on 19th May. You can clearly see the diagnostic separation between the eyes and the Clubbed tail – more evident in the males as seen here than in females. There is also a strange angle to the abdomen in one of these photos…whether an optical illusion or the result of a windy emergence I’m not sure. The exuviae are also unlike any others in the UK and really worth recording if you see them on muddy river banks…or even unusually on nettles as in this photo.
Paul also recorded the first Banded Demoiselles on the same day…just a day after Beautiful Demoiselles were reported (via iRecord) at Cound Stank Bridge. If it actually does warm up this weekend things could really take off…no pun intended!
