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Shropshire Dragonfly Watch BlogKeeping an eye on the dragonflies flying in Shropshire

Common Darter male

The purpose of this blog is to keep dragonfly enthusiasts up to date with dragonfly activity throughout the season. This way we should all know first hand what’s on the wing in Shropshire.

 

All are very welcome to be part of this seasonal diary. Get in touch via the  contact form with sightings and photographs so I can post them on the blog. Even if you’re new to dragonflies and not sure what you have photographed please send it in and get involved in the 2024 Shropshire Dragonfly Watch.

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Southern Hawker on the wing…

Surprisingly amidst such changeable weather the first Southern Hawker sighting has been made by Julian Bromhead in Snailbeach. Julian's photo (left) shows this teneral male with unmistakeable broad antehumeral (shoulder) stripes seen perched on hawthorn…
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May 28, 2024
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A Bundle of Blues…

Jim Almond has been enjoying 'the blues' at a private site just south of Shrewsbury. Pictured left is a male Variable Damselfly- a rare species in Shropshire identified by the characteristic broken antehumeral stripes giving…
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May 23, 2024
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Emperors take to the skies…

19th May saw the emergence of our first Emperor Dragonflies. Neil Gregory spotted this immature male near Dowles Brook in the Wyre Forest and elsewhere in a pond near Minsterley good numbers of exuviae were…
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May 21, 2024
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2 more species on the wing…

A slower couple of days (which gives me a chance to catch up!), but a sighting of Red-eyed Damselfly has been reported and elsewhere Steve Oates has seen White-legged Damselfly on the River Severn near…
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May 16, 2024
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Clubtails are emerging…

Saturday 11th saw the first Clubtails emerging from the River Severn and these were beautifully photographed by Jan Shields at Frankwell. Shrewsbury is a great place to see these rare insects emerging along the river…
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May 13, 2024
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Look out for Downy Emeralds…

Just a heads up after I was contacted by Sandy and Paul Roughley who were lucky enough to see over 20 emerging Downy Emeralds at Llyn Ebyr near Llanidloes mid Wales on May 10th. Their…
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May 13, 2024
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A hot and busy weekend…

Well the sun came out and with it a host of dragon and damselflies! The first Common Blue Damselflies were seen on 8th May at Whixall Moss and a few days later photographed by Tim…
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May 13, 2024
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Banded Demoiselles on the wing…

Gareth Lambe has been spotting Banded Demoiselles on the River Meese at Pickstock, just noth of Newport. Beautiful Demoiselles were also in and around the vegetation and a good number of Azure Damselflies. Let's see…
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May 10, 2024
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The tricky end of damselfly ID…

Pictured left we have the teneral female Blue-tailed Damselfly photographed by Tim Walters at Pam's Pools on 4th May. Clearly not much sign of colour yet but some of the markings are still visible including…
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May 8, 2024
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Three more species on the wing…

And finally the sun came out! ...and with it came 3 more species on the wing. Beautiful Demoiselle was seen on Dowles Brook in the Wyre Forest and also seen at Hodnet Hall where Dave…
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May 7, 2024
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White-faced Darter on the wing…

Stephen Barlow reports White-faced Darters are starting to emerge at Whixall Moss and he spotted his first of the year on the Shropshire side on 28th April. Four-spotted Chasers are also out and about along…
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April 29, 2024
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Four-spotted Chaser on the wing…

Just when we thought things were underway the temperature seems to have really put the breaks on dragonfly sightings...until now! Mike Sokolowski was lucky enough to spot a single Four-spotted Chaser on Whixall Moss on…
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April 26, 2024
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Large Reds on the wing at Whixall..

Stephen Barlow reports around 12 Large Red Damselflies also seen on 12th April at Whixall Moss including the female pictured here. Reportedly they took a fair amount of hunting down in fairly windy and dull…
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April 15, 2024
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Shropshire flight season launches!

Finally some sunshine..and yes the first Shropshire damselflies are on the wing...well damselfly! A single Large Red female seen at Jan Shields pond in Hanwood. This weekend is supposed to be relatively spring like so…
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April 12, 2024
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Watching & Waiting…

April is here and that usually means the emergence of our first Large Red Damselflies. The earliest ever Shropshire record was April 8th so it's worth keeping an eye out (in between the endless rain)…
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April 3, 2024
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Common Darters still about

Jan Shields has sent in some lovely Common Darter photos from Whixall Moss on November 5th. All individuals are pictured basking in the autumn sunshine. The female (pictured left) is over mature and so darker…
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November 8, 2023
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Late records still coming in…

A number of you are still sending in records in late October and most recently Stephen Barlow sent in this image of a female Black Darter basking on the notice board at Whixall Moss on…
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October 24, 2023
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Black Darter at Dolgoch Quarry…

So far the mild weather has meant a reasonable number of dragonflies are still about and it's worth keeping a close eye on them. Nicole and Gareth Lambe were observing Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers…
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October 13, 2023
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Windy but warm…

Wild but warm weather is resulting in a good number of sightings in between the downpours. Julian Cartwright has photographed a nice selection of our autumnal species on Magpie Hill near Titterstone Clee Hill. Our…
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September 20, 2023
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The hour of the Migrant Hawker…

With a burst of incredibly hot still weather I've been checking a few sites and the hawker most frequently encountered seems to be Migrant Hawker. Geoff Hall has been recording at Wildmoor Pool on the…
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September 7, 2023
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Few and far between

Having been spoilt at the start of the summer with sustained hot weather leading to good numbers of dragonflies on the wing, it now seems sightings are few and far between. I'm still seeing a…
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August 22, 2023

Species recorded in 2024…

Large Red Damselfly

12th April

Four-spotted Chaser

24th April

White-faced Darter

28th April

Blue-tailed Damselfly

4th May

Beautiful Demoiselle

5th May

Azure Damselfly

6th May

Common Blue Damselfly

8th May

Broad-bodied Chaser

8th May

Banded Demoiselle

9th May

Red-eyed Damselfly

10th May

Common Clubtail

11th May

White-legged Damselfly

12th May

Emperor Dragonfly

19th May

Variable Damselfly

21st May

Southern Hawker

25th May

Norfolk Hawker

2nd June

Black-tailed Skimmer

2nd June

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

2nd June

Common Darter

6th June

Ruddy Darter

7th June

Common Hawker

12th June

Emerald Damselfly

12th June

Black Darter

20th June

Keeled Skimmer

22nd June

Brown Hawker

29th June

Migrant Hawker

27th July

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

6th August

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