welcome note


On this blog you will be able to share sightings of Dragonflies and Damselflies within the recording area of VC41. However, sightings further afield will be welcome on this site also. To become an author of this blog please register by sending an email to vc41dragonfly@gmail.com and an invite will be sent to you. Alternatively if you want to record your sightings on this blog but do not wish to register then please email sightings with or without photos to the above address and they can be published for you. Please continue to record your sightings through the correct channels and details of these can be found above.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Vagrant Emperor sightings request

We received a request from Adrian Parr today. Adrian is a member of the British Dragonfly Society and Migrant Dragonfly Officer. He is working on an article documenting the recent extraordinary numbers of this species in the British Isles, to be published this summer. It would be great if you have been fortunate enough to have seen this dragonfly and are able to contribute to building a picture, to be presented in this article. If you have seen this species or know someone who has and have not yet reported it to a county recorder, then please provide contact details to Adrian Parr at adrian.parr@btinternet.com , Mike Powell at mike.powell2@coorsbrewers.com or contact the email shown above and details will be forwarded on.

Adrian provided a nice bit of information which shows what a remarkable dragonfly the Vagrant Emperor is and also how remarkable the recent "invasion" has been.

These last few months have seen record numbers of Vagrant Emperor dragonflies reported from the UK. This species normally breeds in sub-Sarahan Africa, but is a very powerful migrant, having reached both Iceland and the New World (the Caribbean) in the past. Prior to this year, there had been only some 30 records from Britain in the past 100 years.

Thanks for your help.

Monday 9 May 2011

Downy emerald at Hensol



Here's a record flight shot of a Downy Emerald at Hensol yesterday



Even though it's quite early in the year, there were double figures of Downy Emerald and smaller numbers of Red-eyed Damselflies.