Stephen Burch's Website - 2015 Dragonfly and Damselfly news for Oxfordshire

2015 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.

As the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) Recorder for Oxfordshire (VC 23), I will make sure all records submitted to me will be collated and sent to the BDS at the end of the season. You can also submit records directly to the BDS via their website but if you do so, please also send me the records as I have no way of accessing these records for county summaries etc. To avoid duplication please let me know you have already submitted records to the BDS. For those sending in many records, it is often more convenient to use a spreadsheet based system. Let me know if you would like to go down this route and I will send you the necessary files/templates.

News for previous years is available:

Date	Species	Site and details	Observer
c. 19 November	1 Migrant Hawker	Port Meadow: Castle Mill Stream	Adam Hartley
31 October	c. 10 Common Darters	Baulking: Fullers Earth pit	Stephen Burch
14 October	1 Southern Hawker	Cholsey	Paul Chandler, per his blog
12 October	1 Common Darter	Cholsey	Paul Chandler, per his blog
3 October	3 Migrant Hawkers and 1 Common Darter	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
1 October	1 Migrant Hawker and 1 Southern Hawker	University Parks	David Hastings
27 September	1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Southern Hawker, at least 20 Common Darters and 2 Ruddy Darters.	Otmoor	David Hastings
27 September	1 Southern Hawker	Road to Radcot Lock (SU301994)	Stephen Burch
20 September	1 Common Darter	West Hendred (SU453887)	Stephen Burch
19 September	1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Southern Hawker and 1 Common Darter	Dry Sandford Pit	David Hastings
Migrant Hawker (c) Stephen Burch
19 September	c. 6 Migrant Hawkers	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
12 September	Common Blue Damselfly (25+), Red-eyed Damselfly (2), Migrant Hawker (7), Southern Hawker (1), Ruddy Darter (2), Common Darter (25+).	Radley Lakes	David Hastings
7 September	Migrant and Southern Hawkers	Otmoor	Peter Law, per the Oxon Wildlife blog
Southern Hawker (c) David Hastings
6 September	2 Brown Hawkers, 4 Migrant Hawkers (incl one pair in cop), 1 Southern Hawker and 2 Common Darters.	Farmoor (Pinkhill)	David Hastings
Common Darter (c) Stephen Burch Migrant Hawker (c) Stephen Burch
6 September	Small Red-eyed Damselfly 3, Migrant Hawker 3, Black-tailed Skimmer 2, Common Darter c. 10	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Migrant Hawker (c) Adam Hartley
2 September	3 Migrant Hawkers, 10+ Common Darters, 2 Ruddy Darters, 2 Blue-tailed Damselflies	Trap Grounds, Oxford	Adam Hartley
26 August	Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker + many Common and Ruddy Darters.	Otmoor	Peter Law, per his blog
Ruddy Darter (c) Adam Hartley
23 August	1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Ruddy Darter, 1 Common Darter on the Trap Ground Ponds; 1 Brown Hawker & modest numbers of Blue-tailed Damselflies along the Castle Mill Stream.	Port Meadow	Adam Hartley
15 August	75 Common Blue Damselflies, 2 Blue-tailed Damselflies, 2 Emperor Dragonflies, 2 Southern Hawkers, 5 Brown Hawkers, 1 Black-tailed Skimmer and 5 Common Darters.	Tar Lakes, nr Witney	David Hastings
12 August	1 Migrant Hawker	University Parks	David Hastings
8 August	40+ Small Red eyed Damselfly, 1 Emperor, 6+ Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
8 August	Common Blue Damselflies, 1 Emperor	Devil's Quoit Pit, LWVGP	Stephen Burch
8 August	6+ Red-eyed Damselfly, 100s Common Blue Damselfly, 2 Emperors, 2+ Brown Hawkers, Common Darters, Black-tailed Skimmer	Tar Lakes, nr Witney	Stephen Burch
2 August	2 Common Blue Damselflies, 1 Blue-tailed Damselfly, 2 Southern Hawkers, 16 Brown Hawkers, 6 Common Darters and 22 Ruddy Darters.	Otmoor	David Hastings
Small Red eyed Damselfly (c) Peter Law
2 August	Small Red-eyed Damselfly c. 6, Common Blue Damselfly c. 6. Emperor 5, Black-tailed Skimmers 12+, and a few Common Darters	Shellingford Pit	Peter Law
Probable Small Red eyed Damselfly just emerged from its exuvia (also visible)
1 August	Small Red-eyed Damselfly 12+, Emperor 3, Black-tailed Skimmers	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
23 July	2-3 Emerald damselflies	Orchard lake, Radley	Wayne Bull
Small Red eyed Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch
18 July	Small Red-eyed Damselfly 4, Blue-tailed Damselflies, Common Blue Damselflies, Emperor 1, Broad-bodied Chaser 1, Black-tailed Skimmers	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
18 July	Small Red Damselfly 6+, Keeled Skimmer 4+, Azure Damselfly	Cothill Fen	Stephen Burch
Keeled Skimmer (c) David Hastings Small Red Damselfly (c) David Hastings
12 July	3 Keeled Skimmers, 7 Small Red Damselflies and 1 Southern Damselfly.	Parsonage Moor & Cothill Fen	David Hastings
11 July	Common Blue Damselfly 100s, Red-eyed Damselfly 20+, Emperor 1m + 2f ovipositing, Four-spotted Chaser 1, Black-tailed Skimmer 30+	Tar Lakes, nr Witney	Stephen Burch
11 July	Common Blue Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Brown Hawker c 3.	Standlake Pit 60	Stephen Burch
White-legged Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch
10 July	White-legged Damselfly 5, Banded Demoiselle 10+	River Thames at Goring Railway Bridge	Stephen Burch
9 July	Blue-tailed Damselfly 2+; Common Blue Damselfly; Emperor 1m, 1f ovipositing; Four-spotted Chaser 1; Black-tailed Skimmer 20+	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
Emperor (c) David Hastings
5 July	At least 50 Common Blue/Azure Damselflies, 1 Brown Hawker, 1 Emperor Dragonfly, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser, 1 Four-spotted Chaser and at least 30 Ruddy Darters (mature and teneral)	Otmoor	David Hastings
3 July	2 Brown Hawkers, 5 Emperor Dragonflies and 2 teneral Ruddy Darters.	Whitecross Green Wood	David Hastings
3 July	1 Hairy Dragonfly	Otmoor	Steve Lockey per Oxon Wildlife Blog
Southern Damselfly (c) David Hastings
2 July	1 Southern Damselfly & 4 Keeled Skimmers	Dry Sandford Pit	David Hastings
30 June	Banded demoiselle, White-legged damselflies 6+, Azure damselfly, Common blue damselfly, Variable Damselflies 2+ (nr Barton Fields), Blue tailed damselfly, Red eyed damselfly. Brown hawker 2, Emperor dragonfly 5+, Four spotted chaser 10+, Black tailed skimmer 15+, Ruddy darter 10+ mostly tenerals	Radley Lakes and Barton Fields	Wayne Bull, per his blog
Red-eyed Damselfly (c) Peter Sketch
28 June	Numerous Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly and Red-eyed Damselfly	River Thames at Goring railway bridge	Peter Sketch
27 June	6-8 White-legged Damselflies. Also Ruddy Darter	Chimney Meadows BBOWT reserve	Jeremy Dexter
White-legged damselfly (c) Adam Hartley
27 June	4m & 6f White-legged Damselflies. A few Common Blue Damselflies, 1m & 1f Beautiful Demoiselle. A dozen or so Banded Demoiselles	Cherwell Valley NE of Grimsbury Reservoir, in meadows between river and M40 motorway.	Adam Hartley per his blog
White-legged damselfly (c) Jeremy Dexter
24 June	2m & 1f White-legged damselfly	Chimney Meadows BBOWT reserve SP36680136	Jeremy Dexter
Emperor eating a Black-tailed Skimmer (c) David Hastings
21 June	Blue-tailed Damselfly 3, Large Red Damselfly 1, immature Emperor Dragonfly 7, Four-spotted Chaser 3, immature Black-tailed Skimmer 1 (was caught and eaten by an Emperor).	Whitecross Green Wood	David Hastings
21 June	Blue-tailed Damselfly 1, Large Red Damselfly 1, Red-eyed Damselfly 1, Azure Damselfly 20+, Common Blue Damselfly 30+, immature Ruddy Darter 14+.	Otmoor	David Hastings
White-legged damselfly (c) Peter Law
19 June	7-8 female White-legged damselfly and 2 males,	Cherwell Valley NE of Grimsbury Reservoir, in meadows between river and M40 motorway.	Peter Law
17 June	Several Southern Damselfly including 2 mating pairs, 3 Keeled Skimmer (2m, 1F)	Dry Sandford Pit	Peter Law
17 June	1 Hairy Dragonfly, 1 Southern Damselfly (fem), some Common Blue and Azure damselflies	Parsonage Moor	Peter Law
17 June	3 fem Keeled Skimmer, 3 Small Red Damselfly (2m, 1F)	Cothill Fen	Peter Law
14 June	~9 VARIABLE DAMSELFLIES Also, many Common Blue, Azure, and Blue-tailed Damselflies Several Banded Demoiselles A few Red-eyed Damselflies on the lake.	Barton Fields	Adam Hartley & Peter Law
Variable Damselfly (c) Stephen Burch - click to enlarge
13 June	2-3 Variable Damselflies. Also Azure, Common Blue, Blue-tailed and Red-eyed Damselflies, despite the poor conditions!	Small lake by river Thames at Barton Fields N 51.669995,W 1.260927	Stephen Burch & David Hastings
12 June	6 + VARIABLE DAMSELFLIES today following a belated record from Martin Wackenier on 17 May - see below	Barton Fields, Abingdon - not in the fields but closer to the river amongst denser more shaded vegetation	Richard Lewington
Black-tailed Skimmer (c) Barry Hudson
11 June	Common Blue Damselflies, Red-eyed Damselflies and Black-tailed Skimmers	Shellingford Pit	Barry Hudson
11 June	2f Banded Demoiselles	University Parks	David Hastings
8 June	5 male Southern Damselflies, 4 Large red Damselflies, 1 immature Keeled Skimmer and 2 Broad bodied chasers	Dry Sandford Pit	Wayne Bull, per his blog
Black-tailed Skimmer (c) Martin Wackenier White-legged damselfly (c) Martin Wackenier
7 June	1 White-legged damselfly, 1 Black tailed Skimmer and 2 Four Spotted Chasers	Barton Fields, Abingdon	Martin Wackenier
Banded Demoiselle (c) David Hastings
7 June	52 Banded Demoiselles (33 male, 19 female) and six Red-eyed Damselflies. No sign of any Common Clubtails or White-legged Damselflies.	Goring Railway Bridge	David Hastings
Emperor Dragonfly (c) Peter Law
7 June	1 Blue-tailed Damselfly. 3 Emperors in various stages of maturity & 5 Four-spotted Chasers.	Whitecross Green Wood	Peter Law
6 June	1 Azure Damselfly, 2 Common Blue Damselflies, 5 Large Red Damselflies and 3 immature Keeled Skimmers	Dry Sandford Pit	David Hastings
Hairy Dragonfly - showing why its called "hairy"! (c) Stephen Burch
6 June	Many Azure Damselflies, 4+ Large Red Damselflies, 4 Red-eyed Damselflies. 5+ Hairy Dragonflies, c. 15 Four-spotted Chasers. Possible Brown Hawker seen poorly in distance.	Otmoor - mainly Roman Road	Stephen Burch
4 June	1 Broad Bodied Chaser and 1 Four spotted Chaser	Barton Fields, Abingdon	Martin Wackenier
Four spotted Chaser (c) Martin Wackenier
3 June	1 Broad Bodied Chaser and 1 Four spotted Chaser	Barton Fields, Abingdon	Martin Wackenier
Hairy Dragonfly (c) Martin Wackenier
2 June	1 Hairy Dragonfly	Barton Fields, Abingdon	Martin Wackenier
1 June	1 Club-tailed Dragonfly	River Thames upstream of the Beale Park (probably on the Berks side of the river!)	Peter Law
Four spotted Chaser (c) David Hastings Blue-tailed Damselfly of form rufescens (c) David Hastings
1 June	At least 250 Azure Damselflies, 3 Large Red Damselflies, 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies (including one of form rufescens), 4 Red-eyed Damselflies and at least 9 Four-spotted Chasers.	Otmoor	David Hastings
30 May	2 Red-eyed Damselfflies copulating, 3 Blue-tailed Damselflies. 2 Four spotted Chaser, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser	Shellingford Pit	Stephen Burch
30 May	Many Azure Damselflies, 5 Large Red Damselfies. 5+ Hairy Dragonflies, c. 10 Four-spotted Chasers	Otmoor: Roman Road and Bridleway as far as cattle pens	Stephen Burch
Club-tailed Dragonfly (c) Adam Hartley
27 May	1 Club-tailed Dragonfly just emerged. Also 20+ Banded Demoiselles and 2 unidentified Damselflies.	Goring Railway Bridge area	Adam Hartley
25 May	100+ Banded Demoiselle	Shifford Lock to Duxford SP3700	Stephen Burch
24 May	1 Blue-tailed Damselfly in the large fishpond to the north of the building.	Oxford Services (M40 junction 8A)	Peter Sketch
Azure Damselfly (c) Peter Sketch
23 May	150+ Azure Damselfly, almost all immature, 1 Large Red damselfly 3 Red-eyed Damselfly, 3 Blue-tailed Damselfly, all immature. Common blue damselfly 1 (teneral). 3 Four-spotted Chasers and 1 Hairy Dragonfly	Otmoor: Roman Road & Bridleway to hide and back	Peter Sketch
Club-tailed Dragonfly (c) Stephen Burch. For more photos click here
23 May	1 Club-tailed Dragonfly seen emerging. Also a different empty exuvia nearer to Goring. 20+ Banded Demoiselle.	Goring Railway Bridge, SU606795	Stephen Burch
Downy Emerald (c) Peter Law
21 May	1 Downy Emerald, 6 Hairy Dragonfly, at least 3 Four-spotted Chaser, numbers of Azure Damselfly, 2 Large Red Damselfly.	Otmoor - Roman Road and eastern end of Bridleway	Peter Law
21 May	1 teneral Club-tailed Dragonfly	Goring	Simon West via the BDS Twitter site!
18 May	1 Broad-bodied Chaser	Long Hanborough	Christopher Stewart, per iRecord
Variable Damselfly (c) Martin Wackenier
17 May	1 Large Red Damselfly and at least 5 VARIABLE DAMSELFLIES	Barton Fields, Abingdon - SU 51146 97106	Martin Wackenier
16 May	1 Club-tailed Dragonfly	Mapledurham SU6776	Victor Abramkin per Facebook!
16 May	Large numbers of teneral Azure Damselflies (a few adults), Large Red Damselflies and 2-3 Hairy Dragonflies.	Otmoor (mainly Roman Road)	Stephen Burch
16 May	Azure Damselflies, Large Red Damselflies and 1 Banded Demoiselle	Pinkhill, Famoor	Stephen Burch
13 May	Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly(?) and one Broad-bodied Chaser.	Otmoor	Adrian Buckel, via the BDS Twitter site!
Hairy Dragonfly (c) David Hastings
10 May	At least five Blue-tailed Damselflies, two Large Red Damselflies and an immature Hairy Dragonfly.	Otmoor	David Hastings
Azure Damselfly (c) David Hastings
9 May	One Large Red Damselfly and at least two Azure Damselflies	Farmoor	David Hastings
4 May	One teneral Banded Demoiselle	Cholsey Marsh	David Hastings
2 May	Probable Hairy Dragonfly	Otmoor	Peter Barker per his Blog
27 April	At least 3 Large Red Damselflies	Otmoor	Peter Law
Large Red Damselfly (c) David Hastings
27 April	3 teneral Large Red Damselflies and 1 teneral Azure Damselfy	Otmoor	David Hastings
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