Field notes from a small garden pond
May 14
A warm morning finally brought the first broad-bodied chasers to the pond. Two males spent most of the day defending the same reed stem, returning to it after every chase. The females stayed low over the water and were much harder to photograph.
June 2
The nettle patch by the fence is full of aphids again, which means ladybugs. Today I counted twenty-three seven-spots, a handful of two-spots and one orange ladybird that I still have to identify. Larvae are everywhere — they look nothing like the adults.
June 19
A quick way to tell them apart in the garden: damselflies fold their wings along the body when resting, dragonflies keep them spread flat. Damselflies are also slimmer and fly in a fluttering, almost lazy way.