Welcome to the Dragonflies of Worcestershire
This site is intended as a follow up to the book "The Dragonflies of Worcestershire", keeping recorders informed about the latest distribution of dragonflies in the county. Records are always welcome of any sightings and you can forward those records in a number of ways (See ways of recording information), one simple way is to email this site using the send sightings/contact tab on the top bar.
The site also contains information about where to see dragonflies and what is going on in the county
The site also contains information about where to see dragonflies and what is going on in the county
All the 2015 records have been added - many thanks to all those who sent those in. Click here to go to the maps for each species or click the Maps for 2015 tab
There are also some late 2014 records which have been updated in the maps for 2014
There are also some late 2014 records which have been updated in the maps for 2014
Dragonflies feature in the Radio 4 series - Natural Histories
The programme will be repeated on Mon 26 2016 at 21:00 or listen in pop out player at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vq2c0
The programme explores the fascination and folklore of Dragonflies talking to well known dragonfly addict Ruary Mackenzie Dodds, and others who have been touched by Dragonflies through their powers of flight and through the geological record
The programme will be repeated on Mon 26 2016 at 21:00 or listen in pop out player at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vq2c0
The programme explores the fascination and folklore of Dragonflies talking to well known dragonfly addict Ruary Mackenzie Dodds, and others who have been touched by Dragonflies through their powers of flight and through the geological record
David Attenborough gets a new dragonfly named after him in honour of his 90th birthday
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Recent work in Madagascar has discovered several new species of dragonfly, and one has been named after Sir David. The dragonfly was already known but it was only recently realised that it was a separate species from the usual one found across Africa. As this is a relatively common species in Madagascar, it is appropriate that many people will see it and know it as Sir David’s Dragonfly. Acisoma attenboroughi
See it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03t2443 Dragonflies feature in new local Book: The Nature of Wyre is a remarkably detailed account of the wildlife of an English forest on the borders of Shropshire and Worcestershire. The Wyre Forest is one of Britain’s most important ancient woodlands and its survival, just 25 miles from the centre of Birmingham, is a modern miracle. Its history and geographical position make it home to a stunning array of wildlife from all corners of the British Isles that includes Dippers, Slavemaker Ants, Narrow-leaved Helleborine orchids and Dragonflies . Edited by Brett Westwood, Peter Shirley, Rosemary Winnall & Harry Green. 2015. Pisces Publications, Newbury. 312pp, colour illustrated. ISBN 978-1-874357-69-8. HBK. £37.50
If you are local to kidderminster I will deliver a copy for £35.00 contact me |
Dragonfly Buzz
A Dragonfly is the world’s greatest traveller: The Globeskimmer (Pantala flavescens) has been known to be a long distance traveller for some time and for this reason has been chosen to be the logo of the World Dragonfly Association.
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Recent genetic work has proved that the species that occurs on all continents except the Antarctic are so close that they have all derived from the same lineage. Most dragonflies and insects never move far from their own pond leading to differences over geological time. Madagascar which has been an island for over 30 million years shows how creatures develop in localised ways as over 90% of dragonfly species are endemic ( only found there). Pantala probably moves 3000 miles in one go around the Indian Ocean and It shows that it easily beats the Monarch Butterfly, the other great travelling insect Citation: Troast D, Suhling F, Jinguji H, Sahlén G, Ware J (2016) A Global Population Genetic Study of Pantala flavescens. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0148949. doi:10.1371/journal
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How much does a Dragonfly eat: more work on the Globe Skimmer by a Japanese University has found that a typical Pantala eats about 14mg’s of food a day equating to about 185 midge like insects. If you think what the population of this worldwide species is then the amount of insects eaten each year is staggering and good reason to encourage dragonflies in mosquito areas (Odonatologica vol 44 No 3 2015)
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Ever wondered what is going on below the water surface in your pond? Check this super little film by Andy Holt. It takes you to places you would normally need a snorkel for: Here
Also a very interesting film made in Herefordshire from Sinclair Stammers of micromacro
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Ever wondered what is going on below the water surface in your pond? Check this super little film by Andy Holt. It takes you to places you would normally need a snorkel for: Here
Also a very interesting film made in Herefordshire from Sinclair Stammers of micromacro
_There is a new look website for the Worldwide Dragonfly Association click here This new site holds a lot more information about dragonflies as well as the venue for the next biennial World Dragonfly meeting at Cambridge in 2017
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Dragonflies have many predators including Wagtails, Hobbys and ants but we sometimes forget the larval predators like Kingfishers. Here is an interesting film of a Kingfisher at a private pond in Worcs, bringing a Hawker Larva back to his perch to whack it on the post before carefully eating it head first. The larva is probably a Southern Hawker. The moral is that it probably best to sit motionless when in clear water (see film here). Film and photo courtesy of Wildlife Kate
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NEW Click here to see how the Club-tailed Dragonfly (Gomphus vulgatissimus) fared on the River Severn at Bewdley this year
The emergence lasted 27 days and it was the lowest count for 9 years on the River Severn.
There is no obvious reason for this, especially as emergence conditions have been ideal with low water levels and gradually rising temperatures
There are worries that this dragonfly is retreating from the River Avon so please let me know if you see any or have any records near this river
On The Wing
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26 Aug 2016 Brown doesn’t do justice to a hawker with lemon yellow side panels and sky blue inserts in rust coloured body but that’s the Brown Hawker. They are usually prominent in August prowling pools and rivers for mates. This one must have got caught up in the vegetation, as John Lane found at Malvern, when he had to extricate it from the plants. Undamaged it rewarded him with a good chance to see one close up. Thanks for the photos John.
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29 Aug 2016 Black Darters are late summer heathland and moorland dragonflies and pretty unusual in Worcestershire. Fortunately John & Julie Stroud knew one when they saw it at Monkwood today. This is only the 6th modern record for the county
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I don’t usually mention Kemerton Nature Reserve, in the south of the county, as a place to see dragonflies. The reason is that access is mostly restricted to the public footpath which barely touches the lake but there has been an exciting change there recently. There has been the addition of a hide at the north edge of the lake with access which now means you can get to the edge of the lake and view the birds and dragonflies at your leisure. The lake is one of the best sites in the county for dragonflies and is where the abundance of many species like Common Blue Damselflies is staggering. It is an excellent place to compare the two Red-eyed Damselflies that we have in the county as they are on the water just outside the front of the hide in August. See the comparison of the two species below to make a positive I.D. How do you get there? Park in the lay-by in Kinsham village at SO93523566 (GL208JQ) and walk 100 metres north along the road and then take the footpath across a field on the right for 900 metres to SO93593629
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07 Aug 2016 The small red-eyed Damselfly is now found in quite a few places outside its core area at Croome Park. Today there were sightings from Gert Corfield at Upton Warren Moors(See photo below) and also at Bittell from Mike Inskip, proving its consolidation in the county
05 June 2016 Gail Hampshire has sent this shot of a Four-spotted Chaser seen at Grafton Wood. It is the form praenubila which shows enlarged Black dots at the wing nodes and larger smudges at the wing tips
25 June 2016 The second of the hawkers has started to merge now and this shot from John Lane reminds us that the colour on emergence is quite different to the mature adult stage. John had a lot of blue Southern Hawkers like this last year in his garden, but it is always difficult to be certain whether they completely change or retain the blue colours
05 Jun 2016 Following the idea of the calamities that can befall a dragonfly, Melissa Lane has provided this shot of a Large Red Damselfly female that has a huge cluster of water mites attached to its thorax. These mites mainly attach to the thorax where they pierce the skin with a feeding tube. They get there by attaching first to the larval stage and waiting until the dragonfly emerges to jump on to the adult
5 June 2016 One of the birds which is very happy to take emerging damselflies is the Grey Wagtail. Their agility amongst the lily pads is a real threat to damselflies but what they get is a welcome food source for a new brood
30 May 2016 This larval case found in a pool near Kidderminster and is unmistakable as an Emperor with the massive flat mandible and long abdomen with prominent lateral spines
29 May 2016 Jason reports that there were teneral Black-tailed Skimmers at Grimley today
24 May 2016 At Eckington on the River Avon, the Club-tailed Dragonfly was once the dominant dragonfly but they are quite hard to find now and it is the Scarce Chaser that is doing well. This is a female
16 May 2016 John Lane has spotted a number of White-legged Damselflies at a fishing pool in Leigh Sinton, which is unusual as their normal habitat is one of the large rivers like the Severn, Avon or Teme
16 May 2016 Broad-bodied Chasers are on the wing now. This one was seen at Kidderminster
13 May 2016 Also taken by John Stroud, this Azure Damselfly was at Upton Warren
8 May 2016 The first Beautiful Demoiselle was seen on the 8th May, but this one was photographed by John Stroud on 13 May on the Salwarpe at Upton Warren
18 April 2016 Seen at Monkwood today by Jason, this Large Red Damselfly has taken advantage of a warm sunny day to emerge
Last year’s highlight must be the first ever sighting of a Downy Emerald at Grafton Wood. Will it be the first and only sighting, well always look out for the species at pools in woodland early in the year from late May to Mid June
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22 July 2016 The last of the regular Hawkers has made an entrance and what a week to be on the wing - during a heatwave!. Migrant Hawkers like this one from John Lane were seen on this date at Malvern and by Gail Hampshire at Alfrick
06 July 2016 Common Darters must have been out for a week or so by now but this one, seen by Paul Meers at Feckenham is the first to be reported. The hint of redness in the leading wing veins might lead you down the wrong path in thinking it was a Red-veined Darter. The veins in those are much more red as well as them having all black legs
27 June 2016 The Darters are starting to appear now and there is always the question is it a Common or Ruddy Darter. This one which is a Ruddy Darter shows the all black legs and the Mexican moustache which runs down the front edge of the eyes.
15 June 2016 Not seen very often in the county, the Common Hawker was spotted in Wyre by Jarred Tibbetts hawking and catching a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. This species is similar to the Migrant Hawker but is much scarcer, out earlier, is larger, and has a golden leading edge to the wings
09 Jun 2016 After a very small showing last year, it was good to see a male Scarce Chaser at Hillditch Pool today, especially with the rubbing marks that means a female is there as well. The rubbing off of the blue scales on segment 5 occurs when the female clasps the male during copulation
6 Jun 2016 It is unusual to find a fully coloured Club-tail dragonfly still at the riverside, but this one has deformed wings tips which is probably due to wind damage when the wings were just being inflated
30 May 2016 Emerging dragonflies run the gauntlet of many predators such as Birds, slugs and voles, but this time a Club-tailed Dragonfly has succombed to an attack from ants as it prepares to emerge
24 May 2016 The Scarce Chaser is hard to sex when just emerged as both look the same before the blue develops on the male but the long appendages in the male as below should give it away
19 May 2016 Cool, rainy, windy weather is not good when dragonflies are trying to emerge as the delicate wings get buffeted around in the grasses and sedges where they emerge. At a pool near Martley, amongst 17 shed larval skins of the Four-spotted Chaser, 3 adults were still present but had deformed wings
16 May 2016 Also at the fishing pools, John found Blue-tailed Damselfly.
16 May 2016 Stackpool, one of the many pools near Kidderminster with Lilly pads, is a regular place to see Red–eyed Damselflies and these were active today
13 May 2016 A little later than last year the Club-tailed Dragonfly was seen by Jason at Upper Arley. The river had been still cold until the last weeks fine weather would have quickly warmed the water up
13 May 2016 This Banded Demoiselle was amongst Beautiful Demoiselles at Hillditch Pool. It is interesting to speculate whether these two species could ever breed together where they coincide
8 May 2016 Four warm sunny days work wonders when it comes to making up for late emerging dragonflies and today lots of Common Blue Damselflies were emerging at a pool north of Kidderminster
This photo reminds us that the blue form of the Southern Hawker is unusual to find and so any photos are very welcome associated with any comments on the ambient temperature when seen
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18 April 2016 No prizes for guessing what this years first Dragonfly seen today was - The Large Red Damselfly. It was seen at Monkwood Nature Reserve
The long awaited new Atlas of Dragonflies in Britain and Ireland is still available. This full colour book (approx. 300 pages from the British Dragonfly Society), maps the distribution of all 56 species of damselfly and dragonfly in Britain and Ireland. The prepublication offer has ended but the atlas is now available from the BDS shop website.
The atlas edited by Steve Cham, Brian Nelson, Steve Prentice, Dave Smallshire and Pam Taylor costs only £32 + Post & Packing
Don't forget you can see the fine detail for all the Worcestershire Records on the Maps for 2008-12 pages of this site
All Worcs recorders are credited in the new National Atlas
The atlas edited by Steve Cham, Brian Nelson, Steve Prentice, Dave Smallshire and Pam Taylor costs only £32 + Post & Packing
Don't forget you can see the fine detail for all the Worcestershire Records on the Maps for 2008-12 pages of this site
All Worcs recorders are credited in the new National Atlas
