Of Dragons and Damsels Words and Pictures by William Bowell
Flaming June!
Back in September 2020, dear reader, I reported in this marvellous publication, about Willow Emerald Damselflies spreading into our area. Their establishment here has been incredibly successfully over the past three years and now late summer and warm early autumn visits to the likes of Deeping Lakes and Baston Fen will see hundreds if not thousands of these delicate damsels, dangling in the wind.
Willow Emerald
The lazy, hazy days of summer really kick off in ‘Flaming June’ and on the sweltering hot days, my attention turns away from the sky and our feathered friends and more towards our waterways and grassland, looking for legendary Dragons and Damsels. From a young age, the life cycle of Odonata (the family to which Dragonflies and Damselflies belong) has always fascinated me. From the tiny nymphs found when pond dipping, to the emergence on reed stems, then bursting out of their skins to create a beautiful flying insect; they are beautiful, fascinating creatures. Our local area is littered with waterways which in turn attracts a wide array of different Dragonflies and Damselflies and June is a peak month for many of them. Since 1995, an incredible eleven species of Dragonfly or Damselfly have been recorded in Britain for either the first time after apparent extinction or for the first time ever. Whilst greater observer awareness almost certainly plays a part, much of the reason for these new occurrences is the widespread expansion of many species across Europe, because of climate change. Scarce Chaser
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Many of these ‘new’ species have subsequently established themselves as breeding residents. The Small Red-eyed Damselfly was only recorded for the first time in 1999 and only started breeding locally in the 2000s, but now is a fully-fledged common resident of our local pools and slowmoving rivers.
Another, this time larger, coloniser, which arrived in our area for the first-time last summer, is the Norfolk Hawker. Also known as the Green-eyed Hawker, this large dragonfly, could be easily mistaken for the regular Brown Hawker, but the for the difference in eye colour (brown/blue in Brown Hawkers). Several Norfolk Hawkers were found at Baston Fen last summer and almost certainly bred, and this spring one has been found in Peterborough, so signs are encouraging for this summer and June is a peak month for them. Twenty years ago, this species was very much restricted, in Britain to the Norfolk broads or the south coast of England and it is still considered endangered. Not only are there new colonisers but we also enjoy nationally scarce Dragonflies which breed in good numbers in our area. Scarce Chaser is one such beautiful dragonfly, which is considered near-threatened in status in Britain. Locally, they are best found in ditches and drains south of the River Nene, with the Great Fen and Woodwalton Fen in particular, being hotspots.
Norfolk Hawker
Males are very blue, with blue eyes and blue bodies, whilst females are brown. They are very similar to Broad-bodied Chasers; however, BBCs tend to favour ponds and puddles. In fact their fondness for puddles make BBCs often the first species to appear at new garden ponds.
