Latest Sightings

We have made a few changes to our Latest Sightings feature, read the full story here.

May Summary (so far):

Neil Philips, Essex County Dragonfly Recorder, spotted the first Variable Damselflies of the year whilst visiting a site in Kent on the 1^st of May (photo left).

Broad-bodied Chaser from North Norfolk on the 3^rd of May.

Four-spotted Chasers seen in Surrey and Goole area, Yorkshire on the 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th of May.

Hairy Dragonfly was seen in Somerset on the 5^th of May.

Variable Damselflies were seen in Somerset on the 6^th of May.

The first dragonfly reported from the Isle of Wight, a Downy Emerald spotted in Newport on the 7^th of May.

The first Beautiful Demoiselle we have seen reported on social media came in from Isle of Wight on the 9^th of May.

Large Red Damselfly emergence continues across the country with many sightings, the first one from south wales we saw came from Pontypool on the 6^th Wales. The first Cumbria sightings for this species were spotted on Facebook on the 13^th of May.

Downy Emerald spotted near Oban, Scotland on the 13^th of May.

Also on the 13^th of May, a Four-spotted Chaser sighting came in from the Scottish Highlands.

The first Common Clubtail sighting came in via Facebook from the River Dee, Farndon in Cheshire

Where to Share Your Sightings or Get Species Identification Help

If you have seen a dragonfly and want to share your sighting or get help with species identification you can post in the following Facebook group, which is run by our Essex County Dragonfly Recorder Neil Phillips:

British Dragonflies and Damselflies Facebook Group

Please note that you will need to request to join the group; be assured that your request will be accepted promptly as the group is monitored regularly.

You can also share your sightings on our own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts too. Our Scotland team also have a Twitter account and you can join their Facebook group too.

There is also a Facebook group that covers our Migrant Dragonflies Project, which is run by project coordinator Adrian Parr and anyone can request to join here.

If you are confident in correctly identifying the species that you have seen then please submit a record to us. All the information you need on submitting records to us can be found in the Recording section here.