Cholsey Marsh - 31 May

Just off Ferry Lane:

3+ White-legged Damselfly

Alan Dawson

White-legged Damselfly (c) Alan Dawson

Shillingford to Little Wittenham - 27th & 28th May

Three transects near the R. Thames on Fri 27th May: 58 Banded Demoiselle,  21 Blue-tailed Damselflies, 3 Red-eyed Damselflies, 26 Azure Damselflies, 5 White-legged Damselflies.

On Sat 28th May in Little Wittenham Wood 35 Azure Damselflies and 2 Black-tailed Skimmers, and along the Thames 3 Four-spotted Chasers, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, and 3 Hairy Dragonflies (including a female ovipositing).

All observations entered in iRecord.

Black-tailed Skimmer (c) John Bloomfield

White-legged Damselfly (c) John Bloomfield

Trap Grounds, Oxford - 29 May

1 Red-eyed Damselfly (prob. teneral male). Scarce at this site.

Nicola Devine

Red-eyed Damselfly (c) Nicola Devine

Cholsey Marsh - 29 May

1m Emperor

Alan Dawson

River Thames at Farmoor - 27 May

Banded Demoiselle: abundant

Red-eyed Damselfly: tens

James Wainscoat

Banded Demoiselle (c) James Wainscoat

Banbury area - 27 & 28 May

27/05/22 - Longford Park, stormwater pond:

5-6 Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly - 3 males, 1 teneral male and 2 females (both auratiaca phase)
5+ Blue-tailed Damselfly - including tenerals
12+ Large Red Damselfly - including pairs in tandem and ovipositing
20+ Azure Damselfly - including pairs in tandem and ovipositing
1 Common Blue Damselfly - teneral male

Warning: Water Rail may be breeding in the pond

28/05/22 - Upper Cherwell Valley, Borrow Pit pool (SP 46453 43152)

1 Emperor Dragonfly - teneral (first of the year)

28/05/22 - Grimsbury Reservoir, River Cherwell

1 Red-eyed Damselfly - male (first of the year)
2+ Azure Damselfly
Numerous Demoiselles!

Gareth Blockley

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (auratiaca form female) (c) Gareth Blockley

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (male) (c) Gareth Blockley

Radley Lakes - 27 May

Downy Emerald: 6+ (4+ at Thrupp Lake and 2 at Orchard Lake)
Hairy Dragonfly: 11+ mostly around Orchard Lake
Clubtail: 1 female next to Orchard Lake
Broad-bodied Chaser: 3-4
Four-spotted Chaser: 6+
Black-tailed Skimmer: 2+

Ian Lewington

Clubtail (c) Ian Lewington

Downy Emerald (c) Ian Lewington

Hairy Dragonfly (c) Ian Lewington

Hairy Dragonfly (c) Ian Lewington

Four-spotted Chaser (c) Ian Lewington

Trap Ground, Oxford - 27 May

Hairy Dragonflies 3+ males, 2 females 
Downy Emeralds 2 possibly 3
Broad Bodied Chaser 1 male
Banded Demoiselle 4m, 2f
Beautiful Demoiselle  1f
Large Red Damselflies 4
Azure Damselflies abundant
Blue-tailed Damselflies 10+
Common Blue Damselfly 3+

Nicola Devine

Broad Bodied Chaser (c) Nicola Devine

Downy Emerald (c) Nicola Devine

West Lockinge - 26 May

Where footpath crosses stream. SU426878

2 Banded Demoiselle
3 Blue-tailed Damselfly

Stephen Burch

Wroxton College - 24 May

Hairy Dragonfly 2m
Beautiful demoiselle 4
Azure damselfly
Common blue damselfly

Steve Holliday [in iRecord]

Longford Park, Banbury - 24 May

 Stormwater pond: SP469390

2 Scarce Blue-tailed Damsels (1 Adult male and an "Aurantiaca" female)
3 Blue-Tailed Damsels
2 Large Red Damsels
6 Azure Damsels

Wayne Bull

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly ("Aurantiaca" form female)  © Wayne Bull

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (male)  © Wayne Bull

Henwood - 23 May

1 Beautiful Demoiselle

SP468023

First garden record.

Margaret Abel

  Beautiful Demoiselle © Margaret Abel

Cholsey - Bow Bridge area - 24 May

1 Clubtail 

1 Broad-bodied Chaser

Alan Dawson

Broad-bodied Chaser © Alan Dawson

Port Meadow - 23 May

1 Clubtail 

Michael Enticott [per Facebook]

Clubtail © Michael Enticott

Didcot - 22 May

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly: 12+ males, 2 adult females and 3 aurantiaca females

10+ Blue-tailed Damselfly
4 Large Red Damselfly
Several Azure Damselfly
a few Common Blue Damselfly

Ian Lewington. 

Same private work site as last year. Worth someone checking the Longford Park site in Banbury, given these are now on the wing. 

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (female) © Ian Lewington

 Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (female of aurantiaca form)  © Ian Lewington

 Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (female of aurantiaca form)  © Ian Lewington

 Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (male)  © Ian Lewington

Farmoor - Shrike/Buckthorn Meadow area - 23 May

All expected damselflies 
Four-spotted Chaser 5-6
Emperor 1f
Hairy Dragonflies

No sign of any Scarce Chasers in 4+ hours of searching but weather not ideal.

Geoff Wyatt

Rousham Lakes - 23 May

Downy Emerald : Up to 10 including 3 males chasing one another and 1 female ovipositing!

1 Azure Damsel
7 Common Blue Damsels
6 Red- Eyed Damsels
4 Four Spotted Chaser

Wayne Bull

Note: this private site produced a number of Downy Emerald records in 2003/2004 but none since. It is one of a few sites in the north of the county for which there are several historical records of Downy Emerald between the mid 1990s and the mid 2000s. 

There is no public access to most of these sites and so the lack of recent records could well be due to lack of observer coverage. 

It is great to know that Downy Emerald is still present at one of these sites, and in such large numbers.  Given this, it seems likely that the other sites could well also still hold this rare species. We will not know for sure unless access can be arranged to them!

Stephen Burch 

Trap Grounds, Oxford - 23 May

Downy Emerald  1
Azure Damselfly    abundant
Blue-tailed Damselflies  10+
Banded Demoiselle 1f  2m
Hairy Dragonfly 1m & 1f ovipositing

Nicola Devine

 Hairy Dragonfly ovipositing © Nicola Devine

Banbury area - 21/22 May

Yesterday, 21/05/22 - Grismbury Res, River Cherwell, SP 46152 42379 

1 Hairy Hawker
1 Blue-tailed Damselfly
2+ Azure Damselfly

Today, 22/05/22 - Grismbury Res, River Cherwell

3 Hairy Hawkers (2 same location as yesterday and 1 same location as last week)
1 Common Blue Damselfly

Today, 22/05/22 - Spital Farm Lake, SP 47035 40403

2 Azure Damselfly
1 Common Damselfly
1 Blue-tailed Damselfly
5+ Red-eyed Damselfly

 Gareth Blockley

Blue-tailed Damselfly © Gareth Blockley

Trap Grounds, Oxford - 22 May

Downy Emerald: 2 (poss 3)
Hairy Dragonfly 1
Banded Demoiselle 4m, 1f
Large Red Damselfly 4
Azures Damselfly abundant, many in cop and ovipositing
Blue-tailed Damselflies 20+

Nicola Devine

Downy Emerald © Nicola Devine

Blue-tailed Damselfly © Nicola Devine

Balscote Quarry (BOS reserve) - 21 May

Azure Damselfly 2
Blue-tailed Damselfly 1
Four-spotted Chaser 2

Steve Holliday [in iRecord]

River Thames: Shillingford to Little Wittenham - 21 May

Two White-legged Damselflies and distant views of two Red-eyed Damselflies on emergent Yellow Water-lilies.

Records entered on iRecord

White-legged Damselfly © John Bloomfield

Faringdon Folly Park Pond - 21 May

50+ Azure Damselfly
5+ Large Red Damselfly
5+ Red-eyed Damselfly
10+ Blue-tailed Damselfly

Stephen Burch 

Blue-tailed Damselfly © Stephen Burch

Large Red  Damselfly © Stephen Burch

Clifton Hampden - 21 May

 River Thames downstream from Clifton Hampden at River of Life 2:

4 Clubtails (2 just emerged)!

SU55295

Mark Bradfield

Clubtail  © Mark Bradfield

Wroxton College - 16 May

1 Hairy Dragonfly

SP42104153

Steve Holliday [per iRecord]

Otmoor - 19 May

Roman Road:

Azure Damselflies - teneral

James Wainscoat

Azure Damselfly © James Wainscoat

Although this looks like an Emerald Damselfly, it is instead most probably a teneral fermale Azure Damselfly (thanks to Adrian Parr for this) © James Wainscoat

Chosley - River Thames near Bow Bridge - 19 May

Red-eyed Damselfly

Alan Dawson

Abbey Grounds, Abingdon - 19 May

 5+ Red-eyed Damselflies
1 Blue-tailed Damselfly

No sign of Downy Emerald 😞

Stephen Burch

Aston (Great Brook) 19th May

Seen at the bridge over Great Brook at SP351016:

Banded Demoiselle 18

Large Red Damselfly 3

Banded Demoiselle (♀) © David Hastings

Crowmarsh Gifford - 18 May

 8 Large Red Damselflies and 6 Azure Damselflies seen at an ornamental pond in Crowmarsh Gifford.

Data entered in iRecord.

Azure Damselfly (male)  © John Bloomfield

Shillingford - 19 May

 Transect along west bank of R Thames to the northwest of Shillingford.

47 Banded Demoiselle

5 Azure Damselflies

2 Blue-tailed Damselflies

1 Large Red Damselfly

1 White-legged Damselfly (ternal female)

Data entered in iRecord

White-legged Damselfly (ternal female)  © John Bloomfield

Farmoor - 18 May

 Farmoor: Buckthorn Meadow pond and nearby:

2f Banded Demoiselle, 
10s Azure Damselflies, 
1 Four Spotted Chaser.

James Wainscoat

Azure Damselfly & Banded Demoiselle © James Wainscoat

Otmoor - 17 May

10s Azure Damselflies. 
1 Hairy Dragonfly.

James Wainscoat

Azure Damselfly © James Wainscoat

Radley Lakes - 18 May

1  Variable Damselfly - near Orchard Lake.
1 Hairy Dragonfly
1 Club-tailed Dragonfly SU525973

Brian Walker [iRecord]

Variable Damselfly © Brian Walker

Hairy Dragonfly © Brian Walker

Trap Grounds, Oxford - 18 May

4 Large Red Damselflies (one pair in cop & ovipositing)
1 Banded Demoiselle (male)
Azure Damselflies (abundant)
1+ Common Blue Damselfly 
1+ Blue tailed Damselfly
2+  Hairy Dragonflies
1-2 Downy Emeralds 

Nicola Devine

Mating pair of Large Red Damselflies © Nicola Devine

Downy Emerald © Nicola Devine

Dry Sandford Pit & Parsonage Moor - 17 May

Dry Sandford Pit: 

Large Red Damselfly 37 
Azure Damselfly 1 

Parsonage Moor

Large Red Damselfly 20+
Azure Damselfly 16+
Hairy Dragonflies 4
Broad-bodied Chasers 3
Four spotted Chasers 8

Peter Philp

Standlake - 16 May

 1 Downy Emerald - found by Mick Cunningham dead in his house! SP403031

Downy Emerald (deceased) © Stephen Burch

The Trap Grounds 17th May

Swan Pond:
1-2 Downy Emeralds 
2 Hairy Hawkers

Lots of "blue" Damselflies

Male Azure Damselfly

Standlake Common - 17 May

20+ Common Blue Damselfly - by stream at end of Langley Lane
1 Hairy Dragonfly - along Langley Lane

Stephen Burch

Teneral female Common Blue Damselfly © Stephen Burch

Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond - 17 May

10+ Azure Damselfly
1 Four-spotted Chaser

Stephen Burch

Otmoor - 13 May

Hairy Dragonfly one mature adult male, four female/newly emerged
Azure Damselfly one mature male
Common Blue Damselfly  several mature males (probably five) (
Blue-tailed Damselfly one mature male
Large Red Damselfly pair in wheel formation

Roger Pritchard

Azure Damselfly © Roger Pritchard

Wroxton Abbey - 16 May

Large red Damselfly: 7 pairs in wheel plus 8
Blue-tailed Damselfly: 4
Azure Damselfly: 1 possibly 2 more 
Hairy Dragonfly 1m
Four-spotted Chaser 1 
Black-tailed Skimmer 4 teneral 

Steve Holliday [iRecord]

Teneral Black-tailed Skimmer © Steve Holliday

Lambs Pool BBOWT - 14 May

Large Red Damselfly 10
Azure Damselfly 3m
Blue-tailed Damselfly  2

Steve Holliday [iRecord]

Goring (Gatehampton) Railway Bridge - 14 May

1 Clubtail emerging between 15:20 and 15:55.

Tim Robson

Clubtail © Tim Robson 

Trap Grounds, Oxford - 14 May

Azure Damselfly: 50+ (also 3 pairs ovipositing)
Common Blue Damselfly: 2
Large Red Damselfly: 4
Banded Demoiselle: 2 (males)
Hairy Dragonfly: 2  

Nicola Devine

Male Azure Damsel (right) and probable female Azure (left) © Nicola Devine

NB In the photo above, Adrian Parr has helpfully commented that the female on the left shows some characteristics of a female Variable Damselfly, but all in all is considered to be most likely an Azure. Note that female Azure and Variable Damselflies are notoriously difficult to separate with 100% confidence.

Abingdon - 14 May

 Abbey Gardens river cutoff SU 50119 97181

1 Downy Emerald

Martin Green

Dry Sandford Pit, 14th May

Saw my first Broad-bodied Chaser of the year at Dry Sandford Pit today. Also four Large Red Damselflies (including a pair in tandem).

Broad-bodied Chaser (teneral) © David Hastings

Large Red Damselfly (teneral ♀) © David Hastings