The Damselflies of Bulgaria.

The species of damselfly, that I was really hoping to see was the bizarre looking Odalisque. It's almost a cross between a dragonfly and damselfly.

There was only one site where we were likely to find this beauty, but it was also very close to the road where we could park. Apparently it likes the cool fresh water coming off the mountains, and as we descended down a small path to some deeper pools in some shaded area Dansko spotted one. It seemed very loyal to the area, so those that wanted to photograph it got lucky. It was lucky too, as only a few minutes later it had vanished, probably flying a little downstream where we could not follow it.

At least though, we had seen the most sought after damselfly species.

 

Male Odalisque.

The other species of damselfly were much more like we get back home, with some of the rare ones there, being much more numerous. Once again, where a damselfly has a British name, I will put that in brackets.

Mating Common Bluetail (Blue-tailed Damselfly).

At home I have searched for the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly a few times in the New Forest without success. On the 2nd day, we visited a small reservoir where we had a good chance of finding some. It was in the far corner of the reservoir where we got lucky. It was great being able to see the distinguishing marks of this species. There is now a thriving colony in Kent, that I hope to visit in the near future.

Male Small Bluetail (Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly).

The immature female of this species is a really beautiful insect, and following a good search for them, we eventually found 2 of them. Known in the UK as the aurantiaca form, it certainly is a beauty!!

Immature Female Small Bluetail. (Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly)

Another species that I've failed to see in the UK is the Dainty Damselfly. Strangely, this species is also found at the same Kent site that holds the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly. The Dainty has been there longer however, and has spread well in Kent, and will no doubt soon be in the far east of Sussex. In Bulgaria, I found the first one near the same area as the female Small Bluetail. Following this, several more Dainty were found throughout the tour.

Dainty Bluet (Dainty Damselfly).

As far as the Willow Emerald goes, the common one in Bulgaria is the Eastern Willow Spreadwing. The Western version is the one we get in the UK. In Bulgaria we only saw a single Western.

Eastern Willow Spreadwing.

The simply named Blue-eye, certainly lives up to its name, as it has very bright blue eyes!! We saw several of these, although they rarely settled in easy reach of the cameras, generally settling on foliage growing in the middle of the pond. Eventually one did come just about close enough, although it still involved getting wet boots.

Blue-eye.

The Robust Spreadwing was by far the most common spreadwing, or emerald damselfly that we saw. This is a species I have seen a few times in the UK, but it is a much rarer species here. Strangely, since returning back home I have now seen them much closer to home in Sussex. Here it is known as the Scarce Emerald Damselfly.

Robust Spreadwing (Scarce Emerald Damselfly).

The next post will be on the wonderful butterflies that we saw on the tour.