Standlake Common 4th July

Beautiful Demoiselle 2
Common Blue Damselfly 20+
Southern Hawker 3
Brown Hawker 4
Black-tailed Skimmer 1

David Hastings

Southern Hawker ♂ © David Hastings

Beautiful Demoiselle ♂ © David Hastings

Abbey Gardens, Abingdon, 3 July

River cut-off

Small Red-eyed Damselfly 2
Brown Hawker 2

Martin Green per Oxon Dragonfly WhatsApp Group

Queen Pool, Blenheim, 3 July

c. 10:15 - 15:15

10+ Red-veined Darter: Seen in the morning in flight from the north shore by the tree (SP440169), and from the west shore where geese hang out (a pair in tandem briefly). Maybe 4-5 in both locations. Also singles seen later settled on west shore (with Adam Hartley) SP438168 , north shore (under above tree) and east shore (with Gareth Casburn) SP441168. Probably somewhat fewer than last week? 

Note these key ID features to distinguish from maturing Ruddy and Common Darters: 

• Prominent red veins on inner parts of wings
• Pale pterostigma with dark borders
• Blueish lower part to eyes (but muted on some today)
• Pale stripe on side of thorax (also muted on some individuals today)

Also seen:

Banded Demoiselle
Blue damsels: 100s
Emperor 5+
Brown Hawker (near Fisherman's Cottage)
Black-tailed Skimmer

Stephen Burch

Red-veined Darter © Stephen Burch

Red-veined Darter [two image composite] © Stephen Burch

Emperor (west shore) © Stephen Burch

Blenheim 3rd July

Late morning visit that overlapped with Steve Burch concentrating on the west shore of the Queen's Pool near the Fishery Cottage (so the usual RVD location). Conditions sunny and warm with a light breeze.

A few red Darter sp. which were probably Red-veined that were mostly briefly views or flying far over the water. One close perched individual was confirmed to be a Red-veined Darter (see photo)

1 Lesser Emperor briefly

Quite a few Emperors, Black-tailed Skimmers and Four-spotted Chasers
100's of blue Damselfly sp. over the water

Adam 

Red-veined Darter

Valley Park, 2 July evening

This new storm water site with open access is in Didcot, just south of the A4130 link road from the A34. It was described in Ian's initial post back in May -  https://oxondragonflies.blogspot.com/2026/05/valley-park-didcot.html.

The OS coords of the main spot he reported then are SU497913.

13+ Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies . 5 males, the rest were tenerals of both sexes presumably second broods?

15 Blue-tailed Damselflies
2 Four-spotted Chasers
3 Black-tailed Skimmers
3 Emperors
Common Darters and Common Blue Damselflies

Ian Lewington

Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly (immature, Aurantiaca phase) © Ian Lewington

Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly (immature, Aurantiaca phase) © Ian Lewington

Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly © Ian Lewington

Blenheim, Queen Pool, 2 July

100s Blue damselflies, 
10 Black-tailed Skimmer, 
2 Red-veined Darter

James Wainscoat

Red-veined Darter © James Wainscoat

Black-tailed Skimmer © James Wainscoat

Blenheim 2nd July

Norfolk Hawker - 1 male in the area reported previously. Clearly defending a territory, chasing a couple of Brown Hawkers. It perches up for long periods out of view so not easy to locate.

Brown Hawker - 3

Ruddy Darter - 5 males

I didn't check for Red-veined Darters on the Queen Pool today.

Norfolk Hawker

Brown Hawker

Otmoor, 29 June

1 Norfolk Hawker - along the track to the second screen (near the starling viewing point).

Paul Wyeth

Norfolk Hawker © Paul Wyeth

Trap Grounds 27th June

First visit to the Trap Grounds for a while in sunny, post-heatwave conditions.

~6 Small Red-eyed Damselfly
3 Blue-tailed Damselfly
Lots of Azure Damselfly
Brown Hawker
Emperor

Emperor and two Banded Demoiselle along the canal. Also a probable fly-through Silver-washed Fritillary - a rarity for this site!

It's great to have the Small Red-eyed Damsels back again after going AWOL last year. There were some ovipositing pairs so hopefully their future is more secure at this site.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly distant record shot 
(with wrong camera settings to add to the poor quality)

 

New Oxon Dragonfly WhatsApp Group

Following the previous post on this topic, there seems to be some interest in a WhatsApp Group for Oxon Dragonflies, to run alongside, and be complementary to this Blog.

Hence I have setup the Oxon Dragonfly Forum WhatsApp Group. Below is an invite link for those wishing to join (assuming I set it up correctly!):

https://chat.whatsapp.com/CogcYwStSmS2ou1Q1TzY5c

Stephen Burch

Oxfordshire Dragonfly Recorder (VC23).

The initial icon for the group is Gareth Casburn's superb image of a Red-veined Darter at Blenheim:

Blenheim, 29 June

Red-veined Darters c. 5 on west side of Queen Pool in cool windy conditions

Wayne Bull

Red-veined Darter © Wayne Bull

Red-veined Darter © Wayne Bull

Bishop's Court Farm/John Allen Pit, Dorchester - Sun 28th

Willow Emerald Damselfly - c8 including a couple of tenerals.
Small Red-eyed Damselfly - c12.
Lesser Emperor - 1m.  Flushed from lakeside bushes.

Geoff Wyatt 

Small Red-eyed Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt

Small Red-eyed Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt

Willow Emerald Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt

Wroxton College Lakes, 27 June

Common Blue Damselfly 250+ across the site, many in tandem, several females ovipositing
Azure Damselfly 1m
Blue-tailed Damselfly 10m
Red-eyed Damselfly 3m plus pair in cop
Emperor 4m 1 fem ovipositing
Four-spotted Chaser 5
Black-tailed Skimmer 30m
Ruddy Darter 1m

Steve Holliday

Ruddy Darter © Steve Holliday

Four-spotted Chaser © Steve Holliday

Standlake Gravel Pits, 27 June

No RVD but significant numbers of Lesser Emperor. They are becoming almost common:

Pit 3 (SP391050), Pit 4 (SP392049) and Pit 10 (SP394052) - 6 individuals

Dix Pit - West side - at least 10 (nearly every bay/fishing swim seemed to have a LE).

Lesser Emperor in flight © Jeremy Dexter

Lesser Emperor perched © Jeremy Dexter

Blenheim, 27th June

Red-veined Darter - 20+

Note: the photos were taken on the west side of Queen Pool where all the geese congregate but were seen flying on both sides

Wayne Bull

All above: Red-veined Darters © Wayne Bull

Blenheim, 26 June

Red-veined Darters on the east side of Queen Pool, including 1 tandem pair ovipositing

Jeremy Dexter

Red-veined Darter © Jeremy Dexter

Red-veined Darter © Jeremy Dexter

Oxon Dragonfly WhatsApp Group?

In a comment on a recent post about the Red-veined Darters at Blenheim, Gareth Blockley suggested that maybe a WhatsApp group for odonata in the county could be a good idea for faster dissemination of news, comments etc. Much like the Oxon Birding Forum group, I presume. 

What do others think about this proposal?

If you would like to be included in such a group let me know in the comments. 

Stephen Burch

Lockinge/Ardington, 27 June

 Pool upstream of weir SU425877 :

1 Emperor
Blue Damsels

Pond south-west of Ardington village SU430881 :

Some of the trees to the south of this pond were felled last winter,, making a more open and sunnier than before. It seems to be having a positive effect for Odonata.

1m Broad-bodied Chaser (first site record)
1m Beautiful Demoiselle (first site record)

Stephen Burch

Farmoor Reservoir, 26 June

West end of causeway:

1 Lesser Emperor

Andy Last

Blenheim 26th June

Red-veined Darter - approximately 20 males seen today, but I don't think it's a stretch to estimate up to 50 must be present across the Queen Pool, and I haven't looked on the main lake where there may well be more. During a breezy spell about midday a number of males perched up exclusively on dead bits of vegetation on the east side of the Queen Pool, and were very approachable. It was apparent the colouration was quite variable on the thorax especially, with one or two obviously more vividly red with brighter markings and veins than others, as the two images illustrate. Do they darken with maturation?

Lesser Emperor - One male was particularly conspicuous on the eastern side of the Queen Pool while watching the RVDs. I think there are probably nearly as many Lessers as Emperors here now.

Faringdon Folly Park Pond, 26 June

c. 09:45 - 11:30

Small Red-eyed Damselfly c. 10 inc 1 pair in cop.
Red-eyed Damselfly - numerous
Azure Damselfly -  numerous
Emperor - several males and at least 2 females ovipositing
Four-spotted Chaser - c. 20?
Black-tailed Skimmer - c. 10?

No sign of any Red Darters or Lesser Emperors!

Stephen Burch

Small Red-eyed damselfly (not fully mature) in flight © Stephen Burch

Red=eyed Damselfly [focus stacked] © Stephen Burch

Black-tailed Skimmer  © Stephen Burch

Aston 25th June

This Emperor Dragonfly was hung up on the tree in next door's garden at 19:45 this evening.

David Hastings

Emperor Dragonfly © David Hastings

Blenheim, 25 June

North End of Queen Pool  07:45 - 11:00.

The RVDs were best viewed from the shade of a large tree at about SP440169. Moving very fast and generally distant.

Red-veined Darter 10+ including pairs in cop. and ovipositing. First breeding record for Oxfordshire?! 
Red-eyed Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Emperor
Black-tailed Skimmer

Stephen Burch and Gareth Casburn

Distant Red-veined Darters in cop. and ovipositing (record shot) © Stephen Burch

Whitecross Green Wood - 25th June

 07:35 to 08:55 (all records from car park). Peter Law

Southern Migrant Hawker (imm) @ 08:08

Southern Migrant Hawker - just 2 immatures still in the car park and adjacent clearing this morning. All three of my pictures this week have been from the same spot

2 Emperor (male and female blue form)
1 Brown Hawker
1 Beautiful Demoiselle (male)

Beautiful Demoiselle (male)

Blenheim 24th June

Red-veined Darter - approximately 10 males over the northern end of the Queen Pool, could well have been more. This was the only darter species I saw or photographed and there were a good number of them constantly over the water.

West Hanney - Letcombe Brook, 24 June

A short walk along the Brook and surrounding area (c. 10:00-11:00):

Banded Demoiselle - plenty in the shaded vegetation surrounding the Brook; fewer on the Brook itself - tending to perch in the shade.

Nice to come across good numbers, following their no show at Goring on 19 June!

Stephen Burch

Blenheim 23rd June

A photo of the Norfolk Hawker from this morning's visit with Steve. Only seen for about 20 seconds in the couple of hours we were there.

Blenheim, 23 June

10:30 - 12:30 

1 Norfolk Hawker (v briefly, c. 11:30). About 100m along the track to the east of the Gareth's original location
2+ Lesser Emperor
Emperor
1 Brown Hawker
Four-spotted Chaser
Numerous blue damselflies

Stephen Burch with Gareth Casburn

Lesser Emperor (distant) © Stephen Burch

Whitecross Green Wood - 23rd June

 07:30 to 09:00 (all records from car park). Peter Law

Southern Migrant Hawker (imm) @ 07:30

Southern Migrant Hawker (imm male - see comments)

Southern Migrant Hawker - c6 immatures less prominent than yesterday, maybe some have dispersed. Most became active around 08:30

Emperor - 1 female blue form
Ruddy Darter - 2 imm males
Beautiful Demoiselle - 2 female

Emperor (worn female blue form)

Ruddy Darter (imm male)

Beautiful Demoiselle (fem)

Whitecross Green Wood 22nd June

12:45 to 14:15

Southern Migrant Hawker : at least seven immatures, 5 over the car park and two down the main ride.
Azure Damselfly: 20+
White-legged Damselfly : 1f 
Emperor Dragonfly: 2
Four-spotted Chaser: 2
Ruddy Darter: 1
Black-tailed Skimmer: 1

David Hastings

Ruddy Darter ♂ © David Hastings