Last Flights Table

First Flights Table

November 14^th 2018 - Numbers of Common Darter flying on sunny days.

September 28^th 2018 - Still a few species flying. The record count this year - so far.

September 25^th 2018 - Reports on the 2018 meetings.

August 7^th 2018 - The long hot summer has been heaven for dragonflies. Plus, the record count for this year.

July 5^th 2018 - Lesser Emperor at Sutton Park.

July 3^rd 2018 - Most breeding species are now flying. Plus a nice(?) photo of a Blue-tailed Damselfly feeding.

June 22^nd 2018 - Red-veined Darter sighting at Draycote Water

June 15^th 2018 - The flight season well under way. First VC38 Club-tail record since 2014!

May 15^th 2018 - And now its eight species flying!

May 13^th 2018 - Six species now reported flying.

April 20^th 2018 - Bubbenhall Meadow gives the first reported Large Red Damselflies of 2018.

February 2018 - Report for 2017 published in the BDS Darter journal.

Table of Latest Dates Recorded in Warwickshire

If you have any later dates for 2018 or later times for previous years please let me have them.

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Table of Earliest Dates Recorded in Warwickshire2018

If you have any earlier dates for 2018 or previous years please let me have them.

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If you have any later dates for 2018 or later times for previous years please let me have them.
Keep an eye on this table, it gets updated from time to time with no notification.

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November 14^th 2018 - Numbers of Common Darter flying on sunny days.

Male Common Darter, Bubbenhall Meadow, 13th November 2018. Tandem Common Darters, Bubbenhall Meadow, 14th November 2018. Photos by Kay Reeve.

Kay and I have made several visits to Bubbenhall Meadow in November. The latest visit was on 13th between 12noon and 1pm. The temperature was about 12 deg.C, with a light breeze and the sun out most of the time. A total of 14 Common Darter were seen and two pairs were in tandem with one pair ovipositing briefly. Jim Timms saw several Common Darters at Brandon Marsh on 12th and earlier in the month Richard Orton reported two at Sutton Park. They will survive a while longer if the weather stays as it has for the last 2 or 3 weeks and they could well survive into December. P.S. Jim timms and Peter Reeve visited Bubbehall Meadow on 15th November and saw 4 Common Darters. Not as many as on 13th and less active.

September 28^th 2018 - Still a few species flying. The record count this year - so far.

There still a few species active on warm days. The last flights table gives the best indication of what is being seen. Remember, this is updated as records come in so to see the current state look at it.

Photo by Kate Greaves, Pristine male Southern Hawker, Bubbenhall Meadow, 23rd September 2018.

Kay and I were at Bubbenhall Meadow on September 23rd and spotted this perfect specimen of Southern Hawker. It looked as if it was fairly recntly emerged and Southern Hawker is known to emerge into late September. We had no camera with us. A couple near by asked what we were looking at and we explained. They were delighted to see it and luckily Kate had a camera and got the lovely picture on the left. The plot on the right shows the number of records received so for this year. The total is 1385. As in August there is still some distance to go to match or beat last year. We are coming to the close of recording season now and there may be fewer records for this year than last year's record number. However there will be more to come. I still have a back log of about fifty to process and not all the year's records will have yet been entered via iRecord or sent to me. This year is not directly comparable with previous years. Now that more records are entered via iRecord the Vice County boundaries are rigorously applied. In the past I accepted many records that were inside the current Warwickshire boundaries but not in Vice County 38. This change has resulted in the loss to East Gloucestershire of a large productive area south of the Avon.

September 25^th 2018 - Reports on the 2018 meeting meetings.

Kingsbury Water Park
Thelsford Farm, Charlcote
Heart of England Forest

Sunday 12^th August - Kingsbury Water Park.

The meeting was rained off. Just in case any brave and optimistic individuals turned up Kay and Peter went anyway. As we were there we walked round and were rewarded by finding Common Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselfly. Our almost third species was the Migrant Hawker exuvia we recovered. It demonstrated that even in very poor conditions something can be found. What we have found with more pairs of eyes?

Saturday 7^th July - Thelsford Farm, Charlecote.

The group looking over Thelsford Lake. Photo by Kay Reeve

On a wonderful morning, ideal for dragonflies, our group of 12 set off to Thelsford Lake. The Lake is on an old quarry site and was constructed over thirty years ago. The top photo shows our backs as we looked for the 12 species we ultimately recorded at the Lake. There was also lot of breeding activity.

Two pairs of Small Red-eye at Thelsford. Photo by Kay Reeve

After lunch we moved on to Theslford Farm irrigation pond about a mile away. The pond is fed by pumping water from the Avon and is of a similar age to the Lake. It too was very productive and again we recorded 12 species with plenty of breeding activity. The bottom photo taken at the pond shows two pairs of Small Red-eyed Damselflies, one pair ovipositing and one pair in tandem. Very many thanks to Jennifer and her brother-in-law John for allowing the visit to take place.

Saturday 23^rd June - Heart of England Forest.

Photo by Kay Reeve - Some of the group at Collet's Farm pond Photo by Kay Reeve - At the Honeybourne pond

We had a nice sized group of ten - more than half experienced dragonfly enthusiasts. When we first got to the pool close to Collet's Farm the weather was a bit dull and dragonfly activity fairly quiet but the sun soon came out and in the about an hour and half we observed 12 species, a good count for the time of year and habitat. After lunch we moved on to the pond at Honeybourne for an hour or two and found two fewer species here than at Collet's Farm. Those who came much enjoyed the day. Many thanks to the Heart of England Forest staff, in particular Stephen Coffey and Sophie Leszczynska for their help.

August 7^th 2018 - The long hot summer has been heaven for dragonflies. Plus, the record count for this year.

Dragonflies and damselflies have been very active in the hot weather, so much so that they are and have worn out. On our pond, our bellwether for dragonfly activity, the only damselfly present now is the Blue-tailed Damselfly and the odd Emerald. The first are probably recently emerged individuals. Ruddy and Common Darter are a constant presence, both males and females, as is the Southern Hawker. There is a patrolling male of the last species here all day. Whether it is the same or several individuals is an interesting question. I will have to get the marking ink out!

Photo by Jill Roberts, Old female Emperor ovipositing at Winderton 1st August 2018.

Here's a photo by Jill Roberts on an old female Emperor turning quite blue. Her hard life is shown in the tatty trailing edges of her forewings. Still busy egg laying though. According to the Met Office it will continue warm and mainly dry for the rest of August and according to that august journal the Daily Mail on into September and October. Watch out for the emergence of second generations.

July 5^th 2018 - Lesser Emperor at Sutton Park.

Photo by Graham Evans, Lesser Emperor at Sutton Park 5th July 2018.

Graham Evans was very lucky, he saw a male Lesser Emperor at Powell's Pool, Sutton Park. Here is an extract from his email reporting the sighting: Yesterday (5th July) a male Lesser Emperor Dragonfly was patrolling the shoreline of Powell's Pool, Sutton Park at SP10259547. It was seen on nine occasions over a period of over 2 hours during the afternoon but was very difficult to photograph due to it's speed ........................ Its fine for you to put the Lesser Emperor record on the ... site. I'm far from embarrassed by the photo - its purpose was to illustrate not to win prizes And indeed it does clearly show what the species is. He visited Powell's Pool the next day hoping for another sighting but no luck.

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July 3^rd 2018 - Most breeding species are now flying. Plus a nice(?) photo of a Blue-tailed Damselfly feeding.

The sunny warm weather suits the the dragonflies perfectly. Nearly all the county's breeding species are now on the wing and many breeding, see the first flights table. The Migrant Hawker is yet to be reported.

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June 22^nd 2018 - Red-veined Darter sighting at Draycote Water

Two Red-veined Darters were seen at Draycote Water on 7th June by Dave Higginson-Tranter and his wife.
Here is an extract from his email:

There were several sightings of the species last year, see Jeff Rankin's report. Are sighting or breeding now to be expected every year?

June 15^th 2018 - The flight season well under way. First VC38 Club-tail record since 2014!

The warm weather has been with us for nearly a month and the dragonflies are responding. A look at first flights table says all that is necessary - almost. The really exciting news is Jon Bowley's sighting of Club-tailed Dragonfly on 3^rd June, the first record for the county since 2014.

We were really beginning to think it had gone from the county. John's email says:

This is a very encouraging. As John says, it may be hanging on on the Arrow, which has a distinct water basin from the Avon. However Club-tails are known to range far and wide from their breeding sites and so we have to await proof of breeding on the Arrow to be certain. It is probably too late now this year. A good sign though!

Most species were lateish emerging this year compared to our earliest dates. One exception is the Scarce Chaser. Mick Schillings sighting on the Avon for the 29^th May equals 2016 - our earliest date for the species.

There are still a few species yet to be seen flying this year so keep looking!

LATE NEWS

Just in (16^th), Jim Timms saw two Emerald Damselflies at Bubbenhall Meadow on June 15^th.
A visit there this afternoon (16^th by P&K in weather not conducive to getting odonatist out yielded a good and interesting haul. Five emerging Southern Hawkers on Hidden Pond, a pond surrounded by trees and a known hotspot for the species and - too late to appear on the first flights table - five newly emerged Emerald Damselflies at the aptly name Emerald Pond.

May 15^th 2018 - And now its eight species flying!

Kay visited Wormleighton Reservoir this morning to do our May transect there. It was very productive producing the first records I have received this year for Hairy Dragonfly and Red-eyed Damselfly. There were at least 12 Hairy adults and Kay also found an exuvia and an emergent which she photographed - I will put the picture up later. Also a Red-eye exuvia and an emergent were found in addition approximately fifteen adults.

May 13^th 2018 - Six species now reported flying.

At last something is starting to happen on this late year. We are paying for that earlier cold spell.
The first flights table tells the broad story. Looking a little more closely at the county:

The first report of Banded Demoiselle was on the Tame at Lea Marston 5 May by Andy Barnsley. The very early record for tha species last year, see 2017 news, was also on the Tame. More evidence that Birmingham warms the Tame water?
Since then there has been a further four sightings. Look at the distribution map for the locations.

Kay & Peter Reeve spotted a newly emerged female Blue-tailed Damselfly on 6 May at Napton Reservoir car park pond.

Four-spotted Chaser was seen by Jim Timms on 7 May at Ryton Butterfly meadow.
Two more sightings have occurred since then.

On 8 May two more species were added - Azure Damselfly and Broad Bodied Chaser. The Azure was seen at Hams Hall by Chris Harris and the B.B.C by Jon Bowley at Fenny Compton. On next day Jim Timms saw B.B.C. at Ladywalk Nature Reserve. He was surprised and dissapointed in the dearth of odonates there.

As for Large Red Damselfly, it has now been seen at eight sites. And at some sites in large numbers. It is undoubtedly out at many other sites - get out and record!

April 20^th 2018- Bubbenhall Meadow gives the first reported Large Red Damselflies of 2018.

After several optimistic visits to Bubbenhall Meadow this month Kay was rewarded today with the sight of 24 Large Red Damselflies at two of the small ponds by Shrubs Lane. They were of both sexes and newly emerged individuals. So belatedly the flight season has started in Warwickshire. One of Kay's pictures of a male is shown FEMALE is shown, Peter has a red face. If you have records for today (or earlier) please let me have them as soon as possible.

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February 2018 - Report for 2017 published in the BDS Darter journal.

The BDS publishes the "Darter" every year. It is a communication journal for the county recorders. Below is article supplied to the journal for Warwickshire, VC 38. It is slightly different from the published copy - some editing was done.

Warwickshire – VC 38 Kay and Peter Reeve Photos by Roy Ledbury, Red-veined Darter, Marsh Lane 31 May 2017 Photos by Jeff Rankin, Red-veined Darter, Marsh Lane 15 August 2017 The 2017 flight season started off with a remarkable early record of Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens photographed by Paul Casey on the river Tame at Ladywalk Nature Reserve on 4th April. Not only is this the earliest ever record for the species in Warwickshire by 16 days but proved to be the earliest for the UK in 2017. The Tame runs from the centre of Birmingham and has industrial sites along the banks which probably results in warming of the river and may explain the early emergence. It will be worth looking on the river in early April in 2018. Large Red Damselfly Pyrrohsoma nymphula and Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum were seen at Bubbenhall Meadow on 11th and 22nd April respectively. Both were the earliest records for the county by one day. After that things slowed down and most other early species were either late or very late in appearing. There were interesting appearances of Red-veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolumbii at Marsh Lane Nature Reserve, Hampton in Arden. Several specimens were seen and one was photographed by Roy Ledbury on 31st May and the following day Dave Hutton saw three individuals and photographed one. All were mature specimens and probably part of the 2017 influx that occurred about that time. Now it becomes interesting. Later in the year on 17th and 19th August Jeff Rankin and Graham Rowling saw a male and a female on the respective dates. Both were pristine immature specimens. This strongly suggests that they emerged at the site and were progeny of the spring influx. Jeff Rankin wrote a full report on the occurrence of Red-veined Darter at Marsh Lane in 2017 which can be found on the website by following this link. In Warwickshire we have established a simple monitoring protocol based on the BDS protocol. We made to efforts recruit monitors in 2016 and 2017 and five signed up in 2016 and a further seven in 2017. In 2017 the twelve monitored 12 sites at least three times and a total 28 were monitored at least once. We hope to sign more monitors at the 2018. There are a number new and very interesting candidate sites for monitoring. It is sad to report that no Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies or Club-tailed Dragonflies were recorded in 2017. The Blue-tail site has been “restored” to agricultural use one stage too far and the last breeding pool destroyed.

Banner artwork by Joan Sharrett