This year’s Dragonfly Week sees local BDS volunteers and Purbeck Natural History Forum members co-organising a five-day public engagement residency at the RSPB’s Arne Nature Reserve in Dorset.

Activity dates: Saturday 6; Sunday 7; Wednesday 10; Friday 12 and Saturday 13 July, 2024.
10:30am – 4:30pm each day, weather permitting.

This joint outdoor residency – kindly hosted by the RSPB team – will be raising visitors’ awareness of the site’s lowland heath Odonata and highlighting the value of monitoring and conserving our freshwater habitats for these charismatic insects.

In addition, the friendly team will be sharing ID tips, revealing secrets of the Odonata life cycle and will invite Dorset-based visitors to take part in Forum pond surveys across the wider Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve.

Please note: dragonflies and damselflies prefer flying in calm, sunny conditions. This means that any engagement activity at RSPB Arne across Dragonfly Week – pondside or elsewhere – will be largely weather dependent. The co-organisers therefore reserve the right to postpone, change or cancel any and all scheduled activities.

Image: egg-laying Emperor Dragonfly © Paul Budgen 2024