Dragonflies of La Brenne & Vienne
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Dragonflies of La Brenne & Vienne Naturetrek Tour Report 18 – 25 June 2015 Western Clubtail (Gomphus pulchellus) female Orange-spotted Emerald (Oxygastra curtisii) male Report & images compiled by Nick Ransdale Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Dragonflies of La Brenne & Vienne Tour Report Tour Participants: Nick Ransdale (leader) with a group of Naturetrek clients Summary This two-centre holiday in central-western France gave an excellent insight into not only the dragonfly species, but also the abundant butterflies, birds and other wildlife of the region. The first two days were spent in the southern Vienne before we moved to the bizarre landscape of the Pinail reserve, and finally to Mezieres, where we spent three days in La Brenne: 'land of a thousand lakes'. This spring had been particularly wet, so we were very fortunate that dry, sunny weather broke the trend just before the tour started. Daily maximum temperatures averaged 29°C; in fact the last two days were a little too hot for finding flying insects in any numbers because temperatures much over 30°C can be counterproductive. However, in these near perfect conditions, we found 41 species of dragonflies (tour average 40), 36 species of butterflies, 99 bird species, and a wide range of other animals and plants that the combined talents of the group helped to find and identify. Amongst the ‘star finds’ were Dusk Hawker, Yellow Clubtail, both Yellow-spotted and Orange-spotted Emeralds, and both 'whitefaces'. During the last two days we took the opportunity to visit several of the hides that now grace La Brenne, enjoying great views of some of La Brenne's special birds. Overall it was a very successful trip with superb weather! Day 1 Thursday 18th April Weather: Bright and sunny. Maximum 27°C. The train from Lille arrived at Poitiers ten minutes late at 4.50pm - unusual for the TGV! We met outside Poitiers station and having made our introductions, continued our journey to the Hotel de France, Montmorillon. We arrived at the hotel at around 6.25pm, giving plenty of time to freshen up before dinner. We dined at 7.30pm and discussed our program for the coming week. After a delicious meal in the newly refurbished restaurant, an early night was taken after the days’ travelling through northern France. Day 2 Friday 19th April Weather: Fine and sunny. Maximum 28°C. After a very filling buffet breakfast, all members of the tour had definitive views of a Dusk Hawker that flew through the front door of the hotel and landed on the wall! Photographs were taken and shown to the leader who was outside and missed it; and there it was – a superb male! This species is a river specialist here, and the hotel is right beside the river Gartempe. We then headed out to an etang in the commune of Persac. Etangs are man-made lakes which may vary greatly in size, and are usually fished either commercially or for sport (or both); the target species is often carp. The weather was warm and sunny, and soon we found a good number of species on this communal fishery. Our first Banded Demoiselles, Beautiful Demoiselles, lots of Small Red Damselflies, many Blue-tailed Damselflies, and several White-tailed Skimmers were all found around the water's edge. This last species doesn't occur in UK, and both males and females can be tricky to differentiate from Black-tailed Skimmer, especially in flight: both species are common here. The margins of the etang also held reasonable numbers of Orange White-legged Damselflies, a rather localised Vienne species and difficult to find in La Brenne. Our first Western Clubtail was also seen here, and the first each of Willow Emerald Damselfly and Orange-spotted Emerald. Two male Scarce Chasers were also found; a species which here lives up to its name as this is the only site on the tour where we sometimes find them. © Naturetrek August 15 1 Dragonflies of La Brenne & Vienne Tour Report After lunch at Persac, we moved on to another communal fishery nearby. This former gravel pit beside the Vienne river provides a different habitat with a lake and a recently created overflow pond. Here we soon found our first Dainty Damselfly and our first Green-eyed Hooktails. Pride of place, though, must go to the two male Yellow Clubtails. This is a difficult species here, and again a river specialist. Our final etang of the day was the Etang de Biais, on a private site near Moulismes. This produced our first Large Red-eyed Damselflies amongst several other species. Our final stop of the day was an active sandpit with a Bee-eater colony, where we all enjoyed good views of four pairs plus several Sand Martins. However, when a Tawny Pipit appeared on the clifftop above the Bee-eater holes, it marked an appropriate end to a very good day. This is a very rare breeding species in the Vienne. Butterflies seen during the day included Black-veined White, Adonis Blue, one Large Tortoiseshell, a Short-tailed Blue, and a Lesser Purple Emperor. The first day of this tour is always a bit 'full-on' – but an excellent tally of 25 odonata species is always a good omen! Day 3 Saturday 20th April Weather: Fine and sunny. Maximum 30°C. Our first stop today was at another communal fishery near Plaisance. Unfortunately, as it was a Saturday with much human activity, there was nothing amongst the few odonata species that we hadn't all seen well yesterday. A nesting Melodious Warbler was very obliging though. Next we made the short cross country drive east, to the river sites, stopping en route for lunch at the Etang Bourg Archambault. This is a delightful spot that often offers good photographic opportunities, particularly for Scarlet Darters and White-tailed Skimmers. Our first Small Red-eyed Damselflies were also seen here. After lunch we headed off to look at a couple of river sites near La Trimouille. On our journey cross country we stopped for close up views of more Orange-spotted Emeralds and a pair of Woodchat Shrikes, a rare Vienne breeder. Our first stop was on a narrow river, the Asse, where soon we found a Common Clubtail, the only one of the trip. This species is usually at the end of its flight season by the time of the tour. Also here we saw the first of two Brilliant Emeralds, another scarce species normally only seen well in flight – and this one wasn't resting either – but again, good, definitive flight views. The tour's only Large Red Damselfly was also seen here, as was a single female Dusk Hawker and numerous Green-eyed Hooktails. We moved on to try a slightly larger river, the Benaise, where we found many Beautiful Demoiselles, another male Brilliant Emerald and several Bee-eaters. Although we fell just short of yesterdays’ tally of 25 species, today was definitely a matter of quality over quantity! 24 species were seen and our running total was 30. 2 © Naturetrek Dragonflies of La Brenne & Vienne Tour Report Day 4 Sunday 21st April Weather: Fine and sunny. Maximum 31°C. Today we headed north to Le Pinail reserve, north-east of Poitiers but still in the Vienne. The weather was again fine and sunny - this reserve is very exposed with no cover, so one always hopes for good weather. We started our exploration of Le Pinail with a new species for the trip, Yellow-spotted Emerald; a superb male. This is only the second time this species has been recorded on this tour at Le Pinail (although we see them elsewhere). We subsequently found at least four Orange-spotted Emeralds, and Keith found a male Downy Emerald, making up a nice set of this group on the same site. The star of the show here is Large White-faced Darter. We didn't have to wait long to find our first male, in fact a conservative estimate of eight were found during the course of the visit. This included a super immature male with six yellow abdominal spots - like the female only much slimmer and with a 'waisted' abdomen. Whitefaces are real sun-lovers, so again we were lucky with the weather: in cloudy, overcast and/or cooler conditions they seem to completely disappear into the undergrowth. About halfway along the trail a male Norfolk Hawker appeared and posed very obligingly for photographs. It's always touch and go whether we see this species on the tour as it is another that is normally nearing the end of its flight period. Before we set out on the trail the warden had just returned from leading his own tour and told us he had found a male Lesser Emperor, a first record for the reserve. This species is rare on the tour and notoriously difficult to pin down as here, like Common Goldenring, it is a nomadic species with no discernible habitat preference. So when a male Lesser Emperor appeared near to where the Norfolk Hawker was, nobody was more surprised than the leader! Unfortunately only about half the group saw it. We finally retraced our steps to the picnic area where we took a much needed lunch break. On the reserve we also saw two Hobbys, our first Bonelli’s Warblers, several Pearly Heaths, another Lesser Purple Emperor, and numerous Large Chequered Skippers. After lunch we made the drive cross-country at a leisurely pace, taking in the unspoilt countryside of the Vienne and entering the subtly different countryside of La Brenne.