Stephen Burch's Website - 2013 Dragonfly and Damselfly news for Oxfordshire

2013 Dragonfly and Damselfly Records for Oxfordshire

This page gives recent items of news about dragonflies and damselflies in Oxfordshire, with the aim of increasing interest and awareness in these charismatic insects in the County.

All entries will be acknowledged. Please send any interesting sightings to me at stephen_burchemail at yahoo.co.uk (change "at" for "@"), and I will endeavour to enter below as soon as possible. Minimum required details are species, site and observer. If the species is localised, scarce or rare in Oxforshire, if possible please provide some details to confirm the identification (such as a photo, previous experience of the species etc).

For those with websites, I will add a link if requested.

If you'd like to send a photo to illustrate your sighting on this page, I'd be happy to add it below.

It would be most convenient if you could re-size any photographs to a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels, to match the others on this page.

See also my site guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of Oxfordshire, and also an illustrated list of all the dragonflies and damselflies recorded in Oxfordshire, with comments on abundance and distribution.

News for previous years is available:

Date	Species	Site and details	Observer
3 November	Around 20 Common Darters (incl one pair in cop), and also a Migrant Hawker.	Otmoor	David Hastings
Southern Hawker (c) David Hastings
12 October	One Southern Hawker and about a dozen Common Darters	Radley Lakes	David Hastings
Migrant Hawker (c) Peter Law
6 October	At least seven Migrant Hawkers and over 50 Common Darters. Many pairs of Common Darter in tandem, some ovipoisting, and some in cop.	Otmoor	David Hastings
6 October	Migrant Hawker, Common Darter (both still numerous in the warm morning sunshine)	Otmoor	Stephen Burch
5 October	Two Migrant Hawkers and six Common Darters	Farmoor	David Hastings
5 October	Migrant Hawker (c. 10), Common Darter (many).	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Four-spotted Chaser (praenubila form) (c) David Hastings
22 September	Two very late Four-spotted Chasers, both of the praenubila form. Also four Brown Hawkers (also late), at least ten Migrant Hawkers, one Southern Hawker, and quite a lot of Common and a few Ruddy Darters.	Otmoor	David Hastings
Emerald Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch
7 September	Emerald Damselfly (5), Common Blue Damselfly (1), Migrant Hawker (10+), Common Darter (numerous), probable Ruddy Darter	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Migrant Hawker (c) Stephen Burch
31 August	c. 10 Migrant Hawkers and numerous Common Darters (50+)	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Migrant Hawker (c) David Hastings
26 August	8 Migrant Hawkers, 5 Brown Hawkers, 2 Southern Hawkers, 50+ Ruddy Darters and 20+ Common Darters.	Otmoor	David Hastings
24 August	13 Common Blue Damselflies, 1 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 8 Common Darters, 3 Southern Hawkers and 1 Migrant Hawker.	Radley Lakes	David Hastings
Blue-tailed Damselfly (rufescens) (c) Peter Law
18 August	100s of Ruddy Darter and good numbers of Common Darter, Southern Hawker and Brown Hawker all over the reserve. Several Migrant Hawker along the Roman Road. A Four-spotted Chaser along the path to second screen. Several Emerald Damselfly between first screen and next corner, and another male along path to first screen. A few Blue-tailed Damselfly, including a female of the form rufescens near the hide, and a few Common Blue Damselfy.	Otmoor	Peter Law
Migrant Hawker (c) Peter Law
16 August	Large numbers of Hawkers, Southern and Migrant late afternoon. Good numbers of Common Darter,and a few Ruddy Darter.	Whitecross Green Wood	Peter Law
11 August	One Southern Hawker and one Common Darter	Dry Sandford Pit	David Hastings
Ruddy Darter (c) David Hastings Southern Hawker (c) David Hastings
10 August	Four Southern Hawkers, one Brown Hawker, at least twenty Migrant Hawkers, one Ruddy Darter and at least twenty Common Darters	Whitecross Green Wood	David Hastings
10 August	Three Common Blue Damselflies, one Emerald Damselfly, one Southern Hawker, two Brown Hawkers, three Ruddy Darters and seven Common Darters	Otmoor (car park field)	David Hastings
Common Darter (c) Stephen Burch
10 August	1 Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies. Emperor (1-2), Black-tailed Skimmer (1), Common Darter (many)	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Red-eyed and Common Blue Damselflies (c) Stephen Burch
3 August	1 Red-eyed Damselfly, Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies. Emperor (1), Four spotted Chasers (5+), Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter (many)	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Ruddy Darter on Otmoor (c) Badger
1 August	Brown Hawker (20)	Otmoor - bridleway between Noke Farm and the hide	Badger
22 July	2 Emerald Damselflies seen around the edge of Orchard Lake, 100's of Common Blue Damselflies, Azure Damselfly, Blue Tailed Damselfly, Red Eyed Damselfly, 1 Small Red Eyed Damselfly seen on Orchard lake resting on floating water weed. Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, 5 Emperor Dragonfly including an ovipositing female, Four Spotted Chaser, Black Tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter.	Radley Lakes	Wayne Bull per his blog
Black-tailed Skimmer (c) Peter Law
19 July	Several Black-tailed Skimmer, several Brown Hawker, 1 or 2 Emperor Dragonfly, 1 Four-spotted Chaser, 1 Banded Demoiselle, lots of Common Blue Damselfly and some Blue-tailed and Azure Damelflies	River Thames at Farmoor	Peter Law
Banded Demoiselle (c) Adam Hartley
14 July	Dozens of Banded Demoiselles, 4+ Brown Hawkers, 1+ Black-tailed Skimmers, 2+ Red-eyed Damsels, 2+ Azure Damsels.	River Thames at Cholsey	Adam Hartley
Small Red Damselfly (c) Peter Law
14 July	A few Small Red Damselfly. Also 1 Large Red Damselfly and 1 Common Darter.	Cothill Fen	Peter Law
Broad bodied Chaser (c) Ewan Urquhart
12 July	Emperor Dragonfly 3, Brown Hawker 6, Broad bodied Chaser 1.	Bernwood Forest	Ewan Urquhart
Common Darter (c) Peter Law
9 July	About 8 or 9 Brown Hawker, 1 Emperor Dragonfly at crossroads, and several Common Darter.	Whitecross Green Wood	Peter Law
Keeled Skimmer (c) Peter Law
8 July	Several Keeled Skimmer at Parsonage Moor this afternoon and one at Dry Sandford Pit. Also a few Large Red Damselfly	Parsonage Moor and at Dry Sandford Pit.	Peter Law
5 - 7 July	Female Hairy Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer	Farmoo/Pinkhill	Dai John per his blog
Small Red Damselfly (c) Adam Hartley
7 July	Dry Sandford: 2+ Keeled Skimmers, several Southern Damselflies, 1 Common Blue Damselfly. Parsonage Moor: 4+ Broad-bodied Chasers, 8+ Keeled Skimmer, 2 Large Red Damselflies, 1 Southern Damselfly Cothill Fen: 6+ Small Red Damselfly, 2 Keeled Skimmer	Dry Sandford, Parsonage Moor & Cothill	Adam Hartley, per Oxon Wildlife Blog
Club-tailed Dragonfly (c) Martin Green & Martin Wackenier
7 July	A very late female Club-tailed Dragonfly	River Thames at Abingdon (near the weir)	Martin Green
7 July	About 10 Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly, 2-3 Black-tailed Skimmer. Also calling Turtle Dove!	River Thames around Radcot Lock	Stephen Burch
6 July	3 Brown Hawker, 3 Beautiful Demoiselle - all females	Waterperry Nature (Forestry Commission) Reserve	Ewan Urquhart
Emerald Damselfly (c) Peter Law
4 July	One Emerald Damselfly, 2 Brown Hawker (Big Otmoor end), 2 male Black-tailed Skimmer (Greenaways section), lots of Four-spotted Chaser, growing numbers of Common Darter (especially at eastern end), zillions of Azure and Common Blue damsels and good numbers of Blue-tailed.	Otmoor, mostly Roman Road	Peter Law
1 July	10+ Small Red Damselflies, Common Blue Damsels, Large Red Damsels. 1 Four Spotted Chaser, a teneral Common Darter and about 4 Keeled Skimmers.	Cothill Fen/Parsonage Moor	Wayne Bull per his blog
1 July	Southern Damselfly, A few Large Red Damselflies and a single Blue Tailed Damselfly	Dry Sandford Pit	Wayne Bull per his blog
30 June	2 Broad bodied Chasers, 1 Emperor Dragonfly	Bernwood Forest	Ewan Urquhart
30 June	1 Brown Hawker, 3 Hairy Dragonflies, 2 Broad Bodied Chaser, 6 Four-Spotted Chasers, 1 prob Downy Emerald. Also many newly emerged Common Darters.	Otmoor, Roman Road	Badger
30 June	1 Hairy Dragonfly, Four Spotted Chaser, Broad Bodied Chaser. Common Blue Damsels, Blue Tailed Damsel, Large Red Damsel.	Whitecross Green Wood	Wayne Bull per his blog
Broad-bodied Chaser (c) Stephen Burch
30 June	Common Blue, Blue tailed and Red eyed Damselflies. Emperor, Broad-bodied Chaser, Four-spotted Chaser.	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Black-tailed Skimmer (c) Ewan Urquhart
26 June	Black-tailed Skimmer (1)	Otmoor	Ewan Urquhart
26 June	Beautiful Demoiselle (1m)	Waterperry Nature Reserve	Ewan Urquhart
Ruddy Darter (c) Ewan Urquhart
25 June	Red eyed Damselfly 12+, Brown Hawker 1, Ruddy Darter 1, Four Spot Chaser 1 female, Countless Common Blue and Blue tailed Damselflies	Radley GP	Ewan Urquhart
25 June	1 Hairy Dragonfly, 2 Four-spotted Chaser.	Otmoor - Roman Road	Peter Law
Southern Damselfly (c) Peter Law
25 June	Southern Damselfly: mating pair and another male, Several Large Red Damselfly	Dry Sandford Pit	Peter Law
24 June	Banded Demoiselle, Blue Tailed Damsels inc.both Rufuscens and violicea forms of females, Common Blue Damsels, Azure Damsels, Red eyed Damsels. Black Tailed Skimmer and Teneral Common Darters.	Radley Gravel Pits	Wayne Bull per his blog
24 June	40 Four Spotted Chasers. 100+ Azure Damselfly along the Bridleway and on Roman Road also numerous Blue tailed Damselfly. Hairy Dragonfly 1 Roman Road	Otmoor - Ashgrave and Roman Road	Ewan Urquhart
Variable Damselfly (c) Roger Wyatt
23 June	Variable Damselfly (4)	Yarnton	Roger Wyatt per Oxon Wildlife Blog
Red-eyed Damselfly (c) David Hastings Four-spotted Chaser (c) David Hastings
22 June	200 Azure Damselflies, 10+ Red-eyed Damselflies, 6 Large Red Damselflies, 16+ Blue-tailed Damselflies, 27+ Four-spotted Chasers and one Hairy Dragonfly.	Otmoor	David Hastings
19 June	Beautiful Demoiselle (1m)	Kingham	Ewan Urquhart
Broad bodied Chaser (c) Peter Law
14 June	Hairy Dragonfly (2), Four-spotted Chaser (8), Broad-bodied Chaser (2), large numbers of blue damselflies including a few Blue-tailed. As hard as I looked, I couldn't find a Downy Emerald.	Roman Road and Eastern end of the Bridleway, Otmoor	Peter Law
9 June	Downy Emerald (1), Broad-bodied Chaser (3 f), Four-spotted Chaser (2), Hairy Dragonfly (3)	Roman Road, Otmoor	Peter Barker per the Oxon Bird Log
8 June	Beautiful Demoiselle (female)	By A417 near Stutfield Brook (close to Goosey)	Barry Hudson
Probable blue form Azure Damselfly (female) (c) Mike Flemming
8 June	We have now concluded that the possible Variable Damselfly reported by Mike was probably in fact only a blue phase female Azure, as it lacks a bar between the eyes. Also Banded Demoiselle and Hairy Dragonfly	Roman Road, Otmoor	Mike Flemming
Southern Damselfly (c) David Hastings
8th June	At least 18 Large Red Damselflies (inc three pairs in tandem), two Southern Damselflies and an Azure Damselfly.	Dry Sandford Pit	David Hastings
Azure Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch
8 June	100's of Azure Damselflies, Hairy Dragonfly (3), Four spotted Chaser (2), Broad-bellied Chaser (2)	Roman Road, Otmoor	Stephen Burch
Banded Demoiselle (c) Peter Law
6 June	Downy Emerald (1)	Roman Road, Otmoor	Pete Roby, per the Oxon Bird Log
6 June	6 male and 1 female Banded Demoiselle, and 1 Large Red Damselfly.	River Thames towing path between Pangbourne and Beale Park	Peter Law
Hairy Dragonfly (c) Peter Law
3 June (3-6pm)	Hairy Dragonfly: 3 max 4 including mating pair; Four-spotted Chaser: 2 max 3 and more along bridleway; Broad-bodied Chaser	Otmoor, Roman Road	Peter Law
Club-tailed Dragonfly (c) Peter Law
2 June	Club-tailed Dragonfly	River Thames towing path between Pangbourne and Beale Park	Peter Law
Hairy Dragonfly (c) Mike Flemming Club-tailed dragonfly (c) Mike Flemming
1 June	Many Four spotted Chasers, Broad-bodied Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly and, a CLUB TAILED DRAGONFLY (possible first site record) at the North end, near the 'forbidding' gate.	Otmoor, Roman Road	Mike Flemming
Broad bodied Chaser (c) Badger
31 May	One immature Broad Bodied Chaser	Bernwood Forest	Badger
Hairy Dragonfly (c) Ewan Urquhart Four Spotted Chaser (c) Ewan Urquhart
27 May	At least 4 Four Spotted Chasers, a Hairy Dragonfly and 2 Broad Bodied Chasers.	Otmoor	Ewan Urquhart
27 May	Female Hairy Dragonfly	Otmoor	Badger
27 May	At least 5 Four-spotted Chasers on Otmoor today with a Hairy Dragonfly along the Roman Road	Otmoor	Badger
Azure Damselfly (c) David Hastings
25 May	6 teneral Red-eyed Damselflies, several teneral and 2 mature Azure Damselflies, four Large Red Damselflies and an immature male Hairy Dragonfly.	Otmoor (mostly Roman Road)	David Hastings
19 May	Hairy Dragonflies and two species of Damselflies	Otmoor	Peter Barker, per OxonBirds
Large Red Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch
18 May	Large Red Damselfly (1)	Pinkhill	Stephen Burch
16 May	Hairy Dragonfly (1) - new site record? Large Red Damselfly (15) and Azure Damselfly (2)	Pinkhill	Brian Walker, per BerksDragonflyGroup
Probable teneral Azure Damselfly (c) David Hastings Teneral Large Red Damselfly (c) David Hastings
6 May	One teneral Large Red Damselfly and one teneral Azure Damselfly	Otmoor - Roman Road	David Hastings
6 May	c. 6 teneral Large Red Damselflies	Pinkhill	David Hastings
Large Red Damselfly (c) Jonathan Crouch
4 May	Large Red Damselfly (3).	Otmoor - Roman Road	Jonathan Crouch

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