The continuing hunt for the Common Blue

As you are no doubt aware, I have been photographing the Dragonflies and Damselflies in Alexandra Park, Hastings, this has turned out to be a very good site for these, between 8-10 different species being seen with some regularity.

However, after going through my photos over the years it became apparent that all the 'blue' Damselfly shots I have were not of Common Blue as I had suspected but of Azure Damselflies. So this year I have made a special effort to get down there more frequently and see if I can once and for all capture a shot of a Common Blue, after all they're called common so they should be numerous, but it does appear as if Azure is the commonest species on site.

So what 'blue' Damselflies have I managed to find over the past few weeks....

The Red-eyed Damselfly has quite a restricted distribution in Southern England, being a more European species we are on the edge of it's range, so a really good find (and a lot rarer than Common Blues!)

Although not hugely blue it does have some blue on it so just about counts for this feature, the Blue-tailed is probably the most adventurous of the Damselflies, it will very often be the first species to colonise a new pond.

That was promising for a moment, obviously different but some Azures are darker than others..

When I found this one I was a bit excited, but then noticed the large amount of black on the lower segments, this is a Variable Damselfly, another of very restricted range and a great find (although still not a Common Blue), it seems strange to feel disappointed after finding species such as Red-eyed and Variable that I hadn't found probably the commonest species!