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.
Along the west shore. c. 14:00 - 16:45
10+ Lesser Emperor - in most of the fishing bays, especially the most northerly one. At least one tandem pair occasionally ovipositing. Some very worn already.
Also
Common Blue Damselfly 100s if not 1000s!
Red-eyed Damselfly
Emperor
Black-tailed Slimmer
Common Darter - 1 mature male
Stephen Burch
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| Lesser Emperor - another big crop (very challenging to get onto as moving so fast!) © Stephen Burch |
I have just had some interesting information from Adrian Parr (the BDS Migrant Dragonfly expert) about this year's the ongoing Red-veined Darter influx:
"The RVD influx continues, and I've just heard of counts of 120 + 95 on two of the lakes on Bodmin Moor!! There have been over 470 records (though from slightly fewer sites) this year. I think it's now fair to say it's been Britain's largest ever influx.
Keep an eye out for locally bred immatures, which may start emerging as early as late July. Such individuals rapidly stray from their breeding waters into surrounding grassland, and then ultimately migrate back south.
But virtually nothing is known about the fine detail of all this, and I'm hopeful someone might keep a close eye on one of their breeding sites this year."
Stephen Burch
Beautiful Demoiselle 2
Common Blue Damselfly 20+
Southern Hawker 3
Brown Hawker 4
Black-tailed Skimmer 1
David Hastings
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| Southern Hawker ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle ♂ © David Hastings |
River cut-off
Small Red-eyed Damselfly 2
Brown Hawker 2
Martin Green per Oxon Dragonfly WhatsApp Group
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:
Also seen:
Banded Demoiselle
Blue damsels: 100s
Emperor 5+
Brown Hawker (near Fisherman's Cottage)
Black-tailed Skimmer
Stephen Burch
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| Red-veined Darter © Stephen Burch |
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| Red-veined Darter [two image composite] © Stephen Burch |
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| Emperor (west shore) © Stephen Burch |
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
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| Red-veined Darter |
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.
For this visit, Ian reports that the best area seemed to be the north shore of the eastern pool.
13+ Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies . 5 males, the rest were tenerals of both sexes - their normal emergence period extends from late May until into July, with a peak late June (Brooks & Lewington, 2002).
15 Blue-tailed Damselflies
2 Four-spotted Chasers
3 Black-tailed Skimmers
3 Emperors
Common Darters and Common Blue Damselflies
Ian Lewington
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| Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly (immature, Aurantiaca phase) © Ian Lewington |
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| Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly (immature, Aurantiaca phase) © Ian Lewington |
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| Scarce-blue tailed Damselfly © Ian Lewington |
100s Blue damselflies,
10 Black-tailed Skimmer,
2 Red-veined Darter
James Wainscoat
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| Red-veined Darter © James Wainscoat |
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| Black-tailed Skimmer © James Wainscoat |
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.
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| Norfolk Hawker |
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| Brown Hawker |
1 Norfolk Hawker - along the track to the second screen (near the starling viewing point).
Paul Wyeth
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| Norfolk Hawker © Paul Wyeth |
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.
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly distant record shot (with wrong camera settings to add to the poor quality) |
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:
Red-veined Darters c. 5 on west side of Queen Pool in cool windy conditions
Wayne Bull
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| Red-veined Darter © Wayne Bull |
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| Red-veined Darter © Wayne Bull |
Willow Emerald Damselfly - c8 including a couple of tenerals.
Small Red-eyed Damselfly - c12.
Lesser Emperor - 1m. Flushed from lakeside bushes.
Geoff Wyatt
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt |
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt |
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly © Geoff Wyatt |
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
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| Ruddy Darter © Steve Holliday |
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| Four-spotted Chaser © Steve Holliday |
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).
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| Lesser Emperor in flight © Jeremy Dexter |
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| Lesser Emperor perched © Jeremy Dexter |
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
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| All above: Red-veined Darters © Wayne Bull |
Red-veined Darters on the east side of Queen Pool, including 1 tandem pair ovipositing
Jeremy Dexter
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| Red-veined Darter © Jeremy Dexter |
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| Red-veined Darter © Jeremy Dexter |
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
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
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.
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
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| Small Red-eyed damselfly (not fully mature) in flight © Stephen Burch |
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| Red=eyed Damselfly [focus stacked] © Stephen Burch |
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| Black-tailed Skimmer © Stephen Burch |
This Emperor Dragonfly was hung up on the tree in next door's garden at 19:45 this evening.
David Hastings
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| Emperor Dragonfly © David Hastings |
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
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| Distant Red-veined Darters in cop. and ovipositing (record shot) © Stephen Burch |
07:35 to 08:55 (all records from car park). Peter Law
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| 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
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| Beautiful Demoiselle (male) |
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.
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
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.
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
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| Lesser Emperor (distant) © Stephen Burch |
07:30 to 09:00 (all records from car park). Peter Law
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| Southern Migrant Hawker (imm) @ 07:30 |
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| 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
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| Emperor (worn female blue form) |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle (fem) |
