A blog for sightings of Dragonflies and Damselflies in Oxfordshire. To submit records and photos, email stephen_burchemail at yahoo.co.uk.
Photos with maximum resolutions up to 2400 pixels may be provided.
Recorders are encouraged to upload their own sightings to iRecord, but any remaining records will be uploaded at the end of the season.
Hidden pond
Emperor Dragonfly 1
Southern Hawker 1
Brown Hawker 1
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter
Main Pond
Blue-tailed Damselfly 2
Common Blue Damselfly 2
Common Spreadwing 2
Emperor Dragonfly 2
Southern Hawker 1
Brown Hawker 1
Southern Migrant Hawker 2
Four-spotted Chaser 1
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter
Rides
Emperor Dragonfly 3
Brown Hawker 1
Migrant Hawker 2
Common Darter
David Hastings
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| Southern Migrant Hawker ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Common Spreadwing ♂ © David Hastings |
Woodland Pond: About 200m beyond Main Pond to left of ride (SP605142). Almost fully dried up.
Southern Migrant Hawker c. 3
Brown Hawker 1
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter
Main Pond
Azure Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Southern Migrant Hawker c. 2 (v briefly)
Brown Hawker 1
Emperor 1
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter
Rides
Brown Hawker c. 4
Common/Ruddy Darter
Southern Migrant Hawker On main ride, 1 female
Stephen Burch
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| Southern Migrant Hawker [partial focus stack] © Stephen Burch |
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| Southern Migrant Hawker in flight © Stephen Burch |
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| A very friendly Southern Hawker! © Stephen Burch |
Southern Hawker - 1 hawking along footpath SU428873
Pool above weir SU425877:
Blue damsel sp
Emperor 1m, 1f ovipositing
Common Darter 2+m
Stephen Burch
Brown Hawker 4,
Southern Hawker 1,
Southern Migrant Hawker 6 ( between Hide and First screen ),
100s Darters,
Willow Emerald Damselfly 1
James Wainscoat
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| Ruddy Darter © James Wainscoat |
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly © James Wainscoat |
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - up to 12
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Black-tailed Skimmer 2
Peter Pool
Southern Migrant Hawker 8,
Brown Hawker 4,
Common Darter 2,
Four-spotted chaser 2,
Ruddy Darter 1
James Wainscoat
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| Southern Migrant Hawker © James Wainscoat |
By the river cut-off / pond:
8+ Willow Emerald Damselfly
Martin Green, per the WhatsApp Group
Along the river from Buckthorn Meadow to Pinkhill, 14:30 to 16:30
Common Blue Damselfly 5
Blue-tailed Damselfly 2
Red-eyed Damselfly 1
Western Willow Spreadwing 2 (pair in tandem)
Brown Hawker 7
David Hastings
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| Brown Hawker ♀ © David Hastings |
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| Western Willow Spreadwings © David Hastings |
Tim's Pond
Southern Hawker
Brown Hawker
Migrant Hawker (prob.)
Common Darter
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Swan Pond
Common Darter
No sign of the SMH on any of the ponds.
Stephen Burch
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| Common Darter within 1/30 sec of landing! © Stephen Burch |
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| Emperor vs Lesser Emperor |
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| Emperor with Ladybird prey |
Mercury Pond, Christ Church college
2-5 Common Blue
2-5 Common Bluetail
2 Emperor incl. 1 female trying to oviposit
6-20 (possibly more) Small Redeye, and 5+ ovipositing tandem pairs
1+ Azure Blue (likely)
Christ Church Meadow
1 Southern Migrant Hawker. First for site.
2 Willow Emerald Damselfly
2-5 Common Bluetail
4 Banded Demoiselle
2 Black Tailed Skimmer
1 Brown Hawker
c. 5+ Common Blue Damselfly
1 tandem Azure Damselfly ovipositing (likely)
Jake Dudderidge
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| Southern Migrant Hawker © Jake Dudderidge |
1, possibly 2 Southern Migrant Hawker. First for site.
3 Ruddy Darter
1 Azure Blue
2-5+ Black Tailed Skimmer
1 Banded Demoiselle. Thanks to Jeremy Dexter for confirming the ID.
Jake Dudderidge
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| Banded Demoiselle (ID from the pterostigma position, despite the colouration being more like Beautiful). © Jake Dudderidge |
Dry Sandford Pit
3 Migrant Hawker
Waterbodies along path at The Plantation (path before Parsonage Moor)
2-5 Emperor
2-5 Brown Hawker
2-5+ Common Bluetail
2-5 Ruddy Darter
1+ Common Darter
5+ Common Blue Damselfly
2-5+ Azure Damselfly
1 Four Spotted Chaser - female ovipositing
Parsonage Moor
2-5 Southern Damselfly
2-5 Small Red
6-20 Keeled Skimmer. Mating pair also seen.
1 Azure Damselfly (likely)
Jake Dudderidge and Samuel Fabian
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| Keeled Skimmer © Jake Dudderidge |
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| Small Red Damselfly © Jake Dudderidge |
Willow Emerald Damselfly 1m
Southern Hawker 2m
Ruddy Darter
Common Darter
Ponds suffering from low water levels and reed growth.
Stephen Burch & John Rowley
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly [focus stacked] © Stephen Burch |
The male Southern Migrant Hawker has now taken up residence on Tim's Pond in the Trap Grounds. In more cloudy weather this afternoon it was perching up regularly.
Also
2 Southern Hawkers
Brown Hawker
Emperor
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter
A few Red-eyed & Small Red-eyed Damselflies
2 Banded Demoiselles along the canal
Adam Hartley
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| Southern Migrant Hawker courtesy of Adam Hartley |
40+ Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies
During a brief evening visit. Mostly copulating pairs and adults. First time I've ever seen females ovipositing. All on the western pond. Water levels getting extremely low.
Ian Lewington per the WhatsApp Forum
Common Blue Damselfly
Red-eyed Damselfly (conservation area pond)
Lesser Emperor - several on the south-west shore of the first (NE) lake inc. a tandem pair briefly, 1 on the second (southern lake), c. 5+ in total
Emperor (males at conservation area and S lake + 1f ovipositing om S lake)
Brown Hawker
Common Darter
Black-tailed Skimmer (numerous)
Four-spotted Chaser (1 conservation area)
Stephen Burch
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| Lesser Emperor © Stephen Burch |
19 Southern Damselflies (18 males and a female)
1 Small Red Damselfly
1 Blue-tailed Damselfly
27 Keeled Skimmers - all males
1 Black-tailed Skimmer
Brian Walker
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| Keeled Skimmer |
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| Small Red Damselfly |
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| Southern Damselfly |
Thames south-west bank upstream from the bridge, and River of Life 9:45 - 11:45 am:
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| White-legged Damselfly (male) |
Black-tailed Skimmer
Disappointing count. No sign of any Willow Emerald yet at River of Life
Norfolk Hawker - 1 in the usual spot. This one is a different individual to that I photographed on 10th July (post on this blog). The wing damage on that one is not present on this one which looks fairly fresh. If more than one is alive in this area currently then I've yet to see them flying together. So quite how many there have been is hard to know, but at least two now! They are though remarkably inactive at times. This one today appeared after about 45 mins of watching the patch of reed bed. Despite other large dragonflies circuiting over that spot, they didn't rouse it into flight. When it did fly it cruised around over the reed bed for about 30 seconds before landing again out of sight. I would say they are the most relaxed flyers of the hawkers we regularly see, very unhurried.
Red-veined Darter - 6 males seen perched along the west edge of the Queen Pool. Some look quite worn now but others reasonably fresh in appearance.
Lesser Emperor - 6 seen at various points across both lakes.
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Red-veined Darter landing (composite image) |
Scarce Chaser - a belated post to cover my sighting of a male along the Glyme at Bladon where it leaves Blenheim. I had considered this species a possibility along this stretch of the river as it's slow moving with plenty of dense vegetation, and I was actively looking on this visit. The image below has had a fair amount of scrutiny now and Steve asked Adrian Parr to have a look and he was unequivocal that it was one, therefore confirming the general consensus. The blue cast to the eyes and black frons are quite distinct and clearly dissimilar to the skimmer next to it. The dark bases to the hind wings are just about visible and the additional observation made by Adrian was that these follow the vein on the wing. This would suggest those black marks aren't its legs. He also made the point he'd never seen one sit in a knees out pose so further indication those marks are on its wings. I've had another couple of looks in the same area since but not seen any more. I will be minded to look earlier in the year next year.
MoD land
Common Spreadwing 1
Brown Hawker 3
Migrant Hawker 1
Southern Migrant Hawker 2
Black-tailed Skimmer 1
Ruddy Darter 31
RSPB land
Brown Hawker 5
Southern Hawker 1
Southern Migrant Hawker 4
Common Darter 1
Ruddy Darter 24
David Hastings
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| Common Spreading ♀ © David Hastings |
The following c 10am from perimeter hedges around private fishing lake @ SU579947:
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| Common Darter (fem) |
Also 2 Banded Demoiselle on Overy Mill Pond @ SU582941, but nothing else there
c. 10:30 - 15:00
Rides:
White-legged Damselfly 1
Lesser Emperor 1 (near the main pond)
Brown Hawker 2+
Southern Migrant Hawker 1m (briefly)
Main Pond:
Azure Damselfly 5+
Blue-tailed Damselfly 1
Brown Hawker 1
Common Darter
Black-tailed Skimmer
Four-spotted Chaser
No sign of any SMH over this pond, nor the reeds on the N side (unlike last year)
West Pond:
Southern Migrant Hawker 1-2m, flushed from vegetation only, not patrolling
Emperor 1m, 1f
Southern Hawker
Four-spotted Chaser 2+
No sign of any Emerald Damselflies (formerly quite numerous here)
Stephen Burch
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| Southern Hawker © Stephen Burch |
Southern Migrant Hawker male (first for site!) seen on the 17th patrolling the northern boundary ditch. What was probably the same individual then relocated to the southern end of the boardwalk just before the Dragonfly Pond on the 18th.
Also
3 Brown Hawkers
5+ Common Darter
1 Ruddy Darter
A few Blue-tailed Dragonflies & Small Red-eyed Damselflies
2 Banded Demoiselles along the canal
Adam Hartley, Matthew Lloyd
.jpeg) |
| Photo courtesy of Matthew Lloyd |
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| Southern Hawker head-on © Nick Truby |
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| Southern Hawker sideways view © Nick Truby |
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| White-legged Damselflies © Steve Holliday |
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly © Steve Holliday |
Southern Migrant Hawker (first records for site):
1m hawking over the ditch at the northern boundary, Matthew Lloyd, 16 July
1m by the end of the boardwalk just before the Dragonfly pond, Adam Hartley 17 July
New storm water pond, as per Wayne's records on 11th July.
52.039592143354604, -1.340035653387352
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| Lesser Emperor © Steve Gresty |
Wayne Bull
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| Scarce Chaser above and below (c) Wayne Bull |
14:15 to 16:00
Along the west side of the pit where it was sheltered from the wind.
Common Blue Damselfly: hundreds
Emperor Dragonfly: 2
Lesser Emperor: at least 10
Brown Hawker: 8
Four-spotted Chaser: 1
Black-tailed Skimmer: 1
Ruddy Darter: 1
David Hastings
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| Lesser Emperor ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Brown Hawker ♀ © David Hastings |
Lesser Emperor 5+
Andy Last per the WhatsApp forum
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| Lesser Emperor (c) Andy Last |
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| Lesser Emperor (c) Andy Last |
New storm water pond at SP4535138131:
5 Common Blue Damsels
4 Azure Damsels
5 Blue Tailed Damsels
2 Scarce Blue Tailed Damsels males
4 Emperor Dragonflies
1 Lesser Emperor male
2 Four Spotted Chaser
3 Broad Bodied Chaser
8+ Black Tailed Skimmer
2 Keeled Skimmer males southern end
1 Common Darter
1 Red Veined Darter male
Wayne Bull
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| Keeled Skimmer (c) Wayne Bull |
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| Keeled Skimmer (c) Wayne Bull |
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| Scarce Blue Tailed Damselfly (m) (c) Wayne Bull |
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| Lesser Emperor (c) Wayne Bull |
