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.
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 |
4 Emerald Damsels 3 males 1 female Orchard Lake
1 Willow Emerald female just north of Orchard Lake
100's if not 1000's Common Blue Damsels
5 Blue Tailed Damsels
15+ Red Eyed Damsels
6+ Small Red Eyed Damsels Orchard/Bullfield Lake
7 Emperor Dragonflies
10+ Lesser Emperors 3 pairs in tandem inc 1 pair ovipositing on Bullfield Lake plus males on Thrupp lake, orchard Lake, Bullfield Lake and Lake H I
5 Brown Hawker
1 Southern Migrant Hawker male Orchard Lake 1st for Radley SU5200596993
1 Four Spotted Chaser
50+ Black Tailed Skimmer
3 Common Darter
10+ Ruddy Darter
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| Southern Migrant Hawker - first for Radley (c) Wayne Bull |
.jpg) |
| Emerald Damselfly (c) Wayne Bull |
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly (c) Wayne Bull |
Norfolk Hawker - 1 male still in the same area as before patrolling the main area of reed bed. I've seen it a few times this week and I'm fairly sure it's the only one here at the moment.
Red-veined Darter - 4 males perched up on the west side of the Queen Pool. I've not seen any on the main lake over the past few days so they seem to be exclusively on the northern end of the Queen Pool.
Lesser Emperor - approximately 8 seen, but likely far more than this across the lakes.
Downy Emerald - 1
No Southern Migrant Hawkers seen today.
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| Norfolk Hawker (c) Gareth Casburn |
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| Red veined Darter (c) Gareth Casburn |
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| Lesser Emperor (c) Gareth Casburn |
8 Lesser Emperor!
James Wainscoat
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| Lesser Emperor (c) James Wainscoat |
Wroxton Abbey
Small Red-eyed Damselfly 1 (only 1 definite, but not thoroughly searched for)
Wroxton Quarry
The pool that the Red-veined Darters were recorded ovipositing in earlier in the season is now completely dry.
Lesser Emperor - tandem pair over Bullfield Lake.
Across all lakes there were a minimum of
3 Emperors,
3 Ruddy Darters,
30 Black-tailed Skimmers,
200 Common Blue Damselflies,
60 Red-eyed Damselflies
3 Blue-tailed Damselflies.
Orchard Lake had plenty of Black-tailed Skimmers but few other dragonflies
Brian Walker
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| Black-tailed Skimmer © Brian Walker |
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| Emperor © Brian Walker |
North of the village, Childrey Brook forms a small lake, a corner of which can be viewed from the adjacent FP. SU368886.
Emperor 1m
Blue damsels - too far away to ID
Stephen Burch
I checked both my local sites this morning for Lesser Emperor, without success
Oxford Way storm water ponds, Chalgrove (SU623977):
Very similar to my 16th June visit but an increase in BTS numbers
Stadhampton Meadows LNR (SU594987):
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| Beautiful Demoiselle (female) |
Common Darter 5
Black-tailed Skimmer 11
Broad-bodied Chaser, 1 fem ovipositing
Emperor 3 inc 2 ovipositing females
Lesser Emperor 1 male fly-over
Red-eyed Damselfly 2
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly 1
Blue-tailed Damselfly many; inc. forms rufescens, rufescens-obsoleta and violacea
Tess Wright
Video showing Blue-tailed Damselfly "cleaning up" after eating © Tess Wright
Lesser Emperor: 1m along causeway, then tandem pair
Conor Mackenzie, per the WhatsApp Group
Lesser Emperor: c. 8 males and 2 females
Geoff Wyatt
Norfolk Hawker - 1 male seen briefly in flight a couple of times, on one occasion clashing with a Southern Migrant Hawker.
Southern Migrant Hawker - 5 or 6 males patrolling small territories at the very tip of the main lake in the same general area as the Norfolk Hawker.
Red-veined Darter - 3 males. One on the gravel path north of the Queen Pool, and two perched on the vegetation on the western edge. Certainly fewer now and not as active over the water as they were a week or two ago.
Lesser Emperor - 2 males
Small Red-eyed Damselfly - several seen on the floating vegetation in the shallow water near the Fisheries Cottage.
Small Red Damselfly 1m - still present in same location as yesterday
Ian Lewington, per the WhatsApp Group
Midday to 1pm
Lesser Emperor : about 10 individuals on the west side of the pit. They were spending a lot of time patrolling the adjacent grassland, and only coming back to the water occasionally. A pair in tandem landed in front of me, and the female started ovipositing.
Also:
Banded Demoiselle : 1
Common Blue Damselfly : hundreds
Emperor Dragonfly : blue-form female ovipositing
Brown Hawker : 3
Black-tailed Skimmer : 10
Common Darter : 1
David Hastings
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| Lesser Emperor ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Lesser Emperor pair in tandem © David Hastings |
10 - 11.30am
Banded Demoiselle 1
Southern Damselfly 5
Blue-tailed Damselfly 2
Azure Damselfly 2
Small Red Damselfly 2
Emperor Dragonfly 1
Keeled Skimmer 9
Black-tailed Skimmer 6
Common Darter 3
David Hastings
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| Southern Damselfly ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Small Red Damselfly ♂ © David Hastings |
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| Keeled Skimmer ♂ © David Hastings |
Lesser Emperor 2 (pair) - c.SP 45028 48559
Only seen briefly but well enough. After the male caught the female they flew up into the surrounding trees. I waited a little while for them to return but I didn't see them again.
Ruddy Darter 1
Brown Hawker 1
White-legged Damselfly 1:
It unfortunately seems like a very poor year for this species again. I've only seen singles on several recent walks locally. This site on a similar date in 2022 well over 60 were recorded (here).
Grimsbury Reservoir
White-legged Damselfly 1
Brown Hawker 1
Borrow Pit pool, Upper Cherwell Valley
White-legged Damselfly 1
Brown Hawker 1
No Small Red-eyed Damselflies yet.
1 Lesser Emperor SU 57061 85358
Oxonbirder, per the WhatsApp Group.
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| Lesser Emperor ©Oxonbirder |
A lunchtime walk along the Oddington track to 100 acre and along the ditch on west side of 100 acre:
18 Southern Migrant Hawkers mostly flying males evenly spaced along the route. One tandem pair briefly. The pill area is drying out.
Also on Noke pond - approx 60 small red-eyed damselflies (on 3.7.26)
Jeremy Dexter
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| Southern Migrant Hawker in flight © Jeremy Dexter |
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| Southern Migrant Hawker settled © Jeremy Dexter |
Small Red Damselfly! 1 male SU496913
Common Blue Damsels
10+ Blue Tailed Damsels
6 Scarce Blue Tailed Damsels
3 Emperor Dragonflies
1 Lesser Emperor male
Four Spotted Chaser
Black Tailed Skimmers
Common Darter
Wayne Bull
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| Small Red Damselfly © Wayne Bull |
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| Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (immature female of Aurantiaca phase) © Wayne Bull |
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| Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, male © Wayne Bull |
Brown Hawker 1,
Migrant Hawker 2,
Ruddy Darter 5,
Common Darter 3.
James Wainscoat
Face comparison of the 2 Darters:
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| Common Darter © James Wainscoat |
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| Ruddy Darter © James Wainscoat |
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 |
