Stephen Burch's Birding & Dragonfly Website

Home | Trip Reports | Gallery | UK index | Oxon pics | UK pics | Dragonflies | Other Nature | Links


National 10km Dragonfly Atlas 2008 - 2013 - recording in Oxfordshire


Those with an interest in dragonflies and damselflies in Oxfordshire are encouraged to compile records of all species seen in Oxfordshire for the little publicised National Dragonfly Altas which started in 2008 and is due to be completed in 2013. Recording locally in the County appears to be at quite a low level so far. Perhaps by increased publicity, this can be improved.

Atlas guidelines and objectives
I've obtained the following guidelines from the BDS Dragonflies in Focus Officer (Stephen Prentice):

  • The aim of the atlas is to plot the current distribution of Odonata in Great Britain and Ireland. Changes in distribution since the last atlas will be shown.
  • All records of presence will be used.
  • A minimum of three visits per season is recommended to each 10km square, with the first being in early/mid June, the second in July and third in August.
  • As a general guide, for Oxfordshire, the aim should be to record at least 14 species in each 10km square, provided it has a range of habitats representative of the County as a whole.
  • Abundance of all life stages should be recorded and may be used in the BDS Key Sites Project which aims to identify the most important dragonfly sites across the country. Breeding records are especially important for this study.

Atlas Records
Any casual records from anywhere would also be very welcome, as the County appears under recorded at present! It should be stressed that records of all species are needed for all 10km squares in Oxfordshire - not just rare or localised species.

If anyone is interested in volunteering to visit particular 10km squares in Oxfordshire, and then submit records at the end of season, please let me know, and I will attempt to coordinate coverage across the County.

I would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who would be able to make the recommended three visits to a particular 10km square (or even better more than one square), i.e. take charge of one or more 10km squares. Offers from the north of the County would be especially welcome.

For the computer literate, probably the most convenient way of sumitting records for the atlas is via an Excel spreadsheet, which can be downloaded by clicking here. This requires a zip file to be downloaded and then the relevant files extracted. Any problems, let me know. Alternatively, electronic versions of pdf files that needed to printed out and completed by hand are available.

If you would like to send your records to me at the end of the season, I will make sure they are submitted through the correct channels.

If you would like to participate in this project if any way, please contact me, and I will endeavour to coordinate coverage across Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire maps
The map below shows the 10km squares within the current boundaries of Oxfordshire, together with the main water bodies. However for the purposes of the National Dragonfly Altas, Oxfordshire is defined as Vice County 23. The concept of Vice Counties originated in 1854, and nothing appears to have changed since. Hence the changes made in 1974 that expanded Oxfordshire at the expense of Berkshire are ignored. As I live in what the Atlas considers to be Berkshire, I'm still planning to record and report all records for the whole of the current Oxfordshire!

Map of Oxfordshire showing 10km squares, main rivers and tetrads containing reservoirs and gravel pits, adapted from the Birds of Oxfordshire (1992) by J W Brucker, A G Gosler and A R Heryet, Pisces Publications

The map below shows the latest information (as of March 2011) available from the BDS Atlas page on the extent of records for Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Bucks. The boundaries shown are the the pre-historic 'vice county' boundaries that place much of current Oxfordshire in Berkshire. By now including all records since 2000, the BDS have improved coverage without any need for additional field work! There are now nine yellow 10km squares in the old Oxfordshire vice county with lower than hoped for totals, with the largest concentrations in the south east of the county, and two in the west. Some of the concentration in the west of the Berks vice county are also in modern Oxfordshire. Hopefully we can improve on this in 2011 and later years.

Map of Thames Valley & Bucks (VC22-24) showing available records, as of March 2011, for 10km squares.

.