A blog for sightings of Dragonflies and Damselflies in Oxfordshire. To submit records and photos for posting, just email stephen_burchemail at yahoo.co.uk. Photos with resolutions up to 1280 pixels may be provided. These will be displayed at a resolution of 640 pixels horizontally but viewers can then click to see them at full resolution
In the meadows:
Southern Hawker 2
Migrant Hawker 1
Ruddy/Common Darter 1-2
Swan pond:
Emerald Damselfly 1
Blue-tailed Damsels 2
Southern & Migrant Hawkers: at least 5
Ruddy/Common Darter: large numbers
No sign yet of any Willow Emeralds
Nicola Devine
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| Blue-tailed Damselflies (c) Nicola Devine |
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| Emerald Damselfly (c) Nicola Devine |
1m Emerald Damselfly in garden pond
SP465375
Wayne Bull
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| Emerald Damselfly (c) Wayne Bull |
Common Blue Damsels - a few left
Migrant Hawker 1
Common Darter 3
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| Migrant Hawker (c) Stephen Burch |
Belated report of a male Keeled Skimmer at the Lye Valley SSSI.
There is also a report of an immature at that site earlier in the year, and there was also a sighting last summer. Further details in due course.
Note this site is another fragment of alkaline fen, as found at the Cothill reserves and Sydlings Copse.
Judy Webb
Good numbers of Migrant Hawker flying this morning behind the hedge along the Oxon / Bucks boundary
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| Migrant Hawker (immature) |
2+ Small Red-eyed Damsels in pool just south of the weir, on the E side of the track. NB this formerly productive pool is now heavily polluted and smells strongly. Slurry courtesy of the local farmer? It is outside of the RSPB reserve area
20+ Migrant Hawker
10+ Brown Hawker
10+ Southern Hawker
Ruddy & Common Darters in large numbers.
No sign of any Southern Migrant Hawkers (again)!
Stephen Burch
R. Thames transect at Shillingford. Banded Demoiselle 5, Common Blue Damselfly 1, Blue-tailed Damselfly 1, Brown Hawker 2, Common Darter 7, Ruddy Darter 3.
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| Common Darter (c) John Bloomfield |
Belated report via iRecord:
1 Keeled Skimmer!
SP554095
Will Langdon
No photo available to confirm ID, but observer had a good view and is familiar with the species. Also the site is an alkaline fen, as found at the Cothill reserves, which are the stronghold of this species in Oxon. There are however very few records away from those reserves.
Many thanks to Deborah Dunn for reporting data on the daily number of exuviae at her garden pond in Steeple Aston.
The plot below compares the numbers of exuviae she found daily in 2020 with those in 2021. This shows that the exuviae were 14 days later, on average, this year, compared with 2020. Also the total number counted this year (29) were well down on last years impressive total of 40 (the pond is only 2.5m x 1.0m with a maximum depth of 0.4m).
It is really useful to have these observations which provide some quantitative data on Southern Hawker emergences. It certainly confirms subjective impressions that the season was much later to get going this year than in the exceptionally early one last year. It is interesting to see this effect is present for a mid-season species such as Southern Hawker, as well as the early ones.
Examples of "hard" numbers which allow quantitative monitoring of changes in numbers and timing in the dragonfly field are few and far between, so I feel this is an especially valuable study.
It is great to hear that Deborah is planning to continue her observations in future, and it will be fascinating to see what trends emerge!
Click on the image to get a larger, clearer version.
Stephen Burch
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| Daily counts of Southern Hawker exuviae in 2020 and 2021 |
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| The pond from which all these Southern Hawkers emerged! |
1m, 1f Southern Hawker
10s Ruddy/Common Darter
James Wainscoat
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| Male Southern Hawker (c) James Wainscoat |
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| Female Southern Hawker (c) James Wainscoat |
1m Willow Emerald Damselfly
Track east from Oddington: SP56943 14558
Jeremy Dexter
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| Willow Emerald Damselfly (c) Jeremy Dexter |
Brief visit in marginal conditions
c. 10 Blue-tailed Damselfly
2 Emperor
No sign of any Small Red-eyed Damsels!
Stephen Burch
1 SMALL RED DAMSELFLY (Male). SU5201096993. One of very few Oxon records away from Cothill
6 Emerald Damsels all males
7 Common Blue Damsels
3 Azure Damsels
20+ Red Eyed Damsels
14 Blue Tailed Damsels
1 Emperor Dragonfly
1 Brown Hawker
5 Common Darter
6 Ruddy Darter
Wayne Bull
1 Emerald Damselfly
Brown Hawker,
Emperor,
Black-tailed Skimmer,
Ruddy and Common Darter
All dragonflies present in good numbers
Mark Bradfield
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| Emerald Damselfly (c) Mark Bradfield |
Along the track from Oddington towards Noke this morning :
Small Red-eyed Damselfly : 1
Southern Migrant Hawker : 1 male (at about SP5508213627)
Southern Hawker : 3 males, 1female
Brown Hawker : 3
Common Darter : 10
Ruddy Darter : 10
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| Southern Migrant Hawker © David Hastings |
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| Southern Hawker © David Hastings |
Small Red-eyed Damselfly 100+
Blue-tailed Damselfly c. 10
Common Blue Damselfly c. 5
Emperor 2m+
Ruddy, Common Darters
Stephen Burch
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| Small Red-eyed Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch |
Algal mats replaced by a strange red coloured substance (presumed algal bloom - see below)
Azure Damselfly 4+
Blue-tailed Damselfly 5+
Emperor 1m, 2f ovipositing
Common Darter 6+
Stephen Burch
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| Presumed red algal bloom (c) Stephen Burch |
Before the clouds rolled in:
Common Blue/Azure Damsels 1-2
Common Darter 20+
Southern Hawker 1m, 1f ovipositing
Stephen Burch
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| Common Darter (c) Stephen Burch |
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| Southern Hawker - ovipositing on my boot! (c) Stephen Burch |
1m Emerald Damselfly
3 Blue-tailed Damselflies
3 Ruddy Darter
1 Southern Hawker ovipositing
SP483026. The pond is publicly accessible, believed to be owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust. It is located at the junction of Sandy Lane and Ridgeway.
James Wainscoat
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| Emerald Damselfly (c) James Wainscoat |
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| Southern Hawker (c) James Wainscoat |
