Lmst

Happy Christmas to those who celebrate, happy holidays to those who don't and happy #dragonfly watching in 2025 to one and all. #DragonflyAdventCalendar

A bonus day 25 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. After 24 of my own pictures I always end with this - E H Shepard's drawing of one of history's most famous dragonfly surveyors observing a Banded Demoiselle. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A coloured drawing. Winnie The Pooh sits on a stepping stone half way across a stream. He is looking up into the sky where there is a dragonfly which seems to be doing the distinctive dancing flight of the male Banded Demoiselle. Pooh appears to be watching it, although some uninformed people think he is just lost in thought.

Day 24 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Of course we end with Common Darter, often the latest-flying of our common species, well into October and sometimes November. This one at #CoateWater, #Swindon, in late August. #Wiltshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A dragonfly sits on a fallen branch, sunbathing. Its abdomen is a mixture of yellow and orange, reflecting a gradual change of colour. A close look at its legs shows that each has a pale stripe running along its length, rather than being entirely black.

If you're enjoying the #DragonflyAdventCalendar you can join the British Dragonfly Society for only £25 a year (slightly more if outside the UK). Or they do a free e-newsletter which non-members can also sign up for. https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/

Day 23 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Blue-tailed Damselfly is one of the commonest species. This is a male; females come in a variety of colour patterns. At the fake canal in East Wichel, #Swindon in August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A small insect sits on a leaf floating on water. It is mainly black with a blue band near the end of its abdomen. It is sunny enough that the insect casts a shadow on the leaf.

Day 22 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Black-tailed Skimmer, seen from an unusual angle, looking down at one sunbathing on a low fence. The green eyes distinguish it from the related Keeled Skimmer from this angle where the colour of the abdomen is harder to see. At #WWT #Slimbridge last summer. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A dragonfly sits sunbathing on the vertical side of a wooden fence. We are looking down on it and can see its green eyes and brown thorax, with the blue abdomen only seen from the side, showing it is quite narrow from this angle. The tip of the abdomen is black rather than blue.

Day 21 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Emerald is a declining species but widespread across the country. It likes overgrown ponds with lots of emergent vegetation. This immature male was at Rivermead in #Swindon in late June. #Wiltshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A green damselfly sits on a grass leaf. Its wings are folded along its body. It has no patches of blue, but does have curved appendages on the tip of its abdomen, showing it's an immature male not a female.

Day 20 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. White-faced Darter is small and rare but spectacular. It's a bog specialist and in the UK mainly lives in Scotland with a few in Cumbria and a couple of sites further south. This one from Whixall Moss, its only site in #Wales, a couple of years ago. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography #Cymru

A dragonfly sits on a plant stem above a bog pool. It is black with several patches of bright red. It is looking away from us so very little of the front of its head can be seen - what can be seen is white.

Day 19 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Small Red Damselfly is tiny and lives in wild, boggy heath areas. Since I love exploring such habitats, I am naturally very fond of this #damselfly. The closely-related Large Red is a common species in gardens - it is larger and its legs are black not pink. This one in the #NewForest in early July. #Hampshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A small insect sits on the leaf of a small water-plant (Marsh St John's Wort) near the surface of a boggy stream. Its long, thin abdomen is entirely red, its thorax is dark and shiny, its eyes are red. Its legs are a pink-ish colour, not black like those of the Large Red.

Day 18 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Small Red-eyed Damselfly is a fairly new species for the UK but has spread right across southern England and Wales. They emerge later in the summer than their larger cousin the Red-eyed Damselfly. This one at #RSPB #FramptonMarsh #Lincolnshire in early August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A small insect sits on a sedge leaf. It is mainly black with blue sides to its thorax and a blue tip to its tail. Its eyes are red.

Day 17 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Migrant Hawker is a fairly recent arrival in the UK, mainly seen in Kent and #Essex. I'd never managed a photo of one in flight before this, so very pleased. Seen at the famous ditch in #CanveyIsland in July, on the same day as the Southern Emerald that was day 12 of the calendar. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A large dragonfly hovers in flight, its wings moving too fast for the camera and just a blur. It has blue eyes, a green and blue thorax and a black-and-blue abdomen. The abdomen has a lot of blue, rather than the small spots of our other hawker species.

Day 16 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Keeled Skimmer is a very common species of bogs and fens, rarely seen elsewhere. They look and behave a bit like darters, rather than like the closely-related Black-tailed Skimmer. This one was at #Thursley last summer. #Surrey #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A pale blue dragonfly sunbathing on the flat surface of a boardwalk. The boardwalk was built to allow visitors to explore the bog safely.

Day 15 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. It's the third Sunday of Advent, "Gaudete Sunday", so we should have a pink dragonfly. This isn't a UK photo, it's a Violet Dropwing, an African species spreading in southern Europe. This one in #Rome a few years ago. #Italy #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A dragonfly perches on the end of a twig. Its eyes are red, its body a mix of pink and red. It is holding its abdomen up well above the horizontal but rather than sunbathing it's actually lined up to reduce the amount of sunlight on it, to avoid overheating.

Day 14 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Banded Demoiselle is my favourite species. The males make display flights with the dark wing patches making mesmerising patterns above the river surface. This one in #Swindon #Wiltshire in late June. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A metallic green insect sits on an iris leaf. Its wings are held next to its body and have large black patches on otherwise clear wings. It has a sharply-defined shadow and is angling its body to maximise its exposure to the sun.

Day 13 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Blue #damselfly is very common and the males are very blue. Females are much darker. In the right habitat, such as here at the #Wiltshire #WildlifeTrust #LowerMoorFarm reserve, this species will form swarms. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife

A long thin insect clings to a rush stem. It is mainly bright blue with some black parts.

Day 12 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Emerald Damselfly is small and easy to overlook but for me this was the highlight of my year - it was the only UK breeding species I'd never seen. In the famous ditch in #CanveyIsland #Essex in July.
#DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A small needle-shaped insect sits on a twig near ground level. Its body is copper-coloured. At the tail end the appendages on the very tip are white. Its wings are held out at an angle to the body, not folded flat. The spot near the tip of each wing is black and white.

Day 11 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Golden-ringed Dragonfly is one of our most spectacular species, brightly-coloured and huge. They don't often sit still so I was lucky with this one, at Hannaford on #Dartmoor in July. Yes, I was looking for High Brown Fritillary. No, I didn't see one. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #Devon #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A very large dragonfly hangs down from a gorse bush, Its body is long and thin. It is black all over with thin bright yellow stripes. Its eyes are green.

Day 10 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Red-eyed #Damselfly is a bit larger than most damsels. Usually seen sitting on floating vegetation on a pond or slow river but this one was more cooperative. #LowerMoorFarm #Wiltshire #WildlifeTrust reserve in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A large damselfly sitting on a leaf. Its abdomen is black with a blue tip at the tail end. Its thorax is black on top and blue at the sides. Its eyes are a deep red colour.

Day 9 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Scarce Emerald Damselfly is restricted to the east here but commoner on the continent. It looks like the Common Emerald but is chunkier and has brighter blue eyes. This one in #CanveyIsland in July. The manky ditch I was searching when I found this will feature in this calendar a couple more times as it's a very good spot despite not being in a nature reserve. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #Essex #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

A long, thin insect. It's body is all green except for powder-blue patches and the front and tail of the abdomen. Its eyes are a vivid bright blue. It is holding its wings out at 45 degrees from its body rather than folding them flat along the abdomen like most damselflies do.

Day 8 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Ruddy Darter is the second-commonest of the red species in the UK, very widespread. This one was at the wonderful #RSPB #StrumpshawFen, #Norfolk, in early August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #photography

#DragonflyAdventCalendar

Client Info