David Williams has sent in these great photos of Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly seen unexpectedly at Beckbury Meadows – a privately owned site on the River Worfe flood plain between Albrighton and Bridgnorth. This site is grazed by cattle and it may well be the ground disturbance creating suitable habitat for this species. Numerous Blue-tailed Damselflies were also present, but David spotted the beautiful orange female Scarce Blue-taileds and then on closer inspection a number of males. The male Scarce Blue-tailed looks very similar to the male Blue-tailed but the blue area is further towards the end of the abdomen (segment 9 rather than 8 in Blue-tailed) and often has a pair of black dots visible.
