Big Bug Day at Foxearth Meadows
This free family event celebrates National Insect Week, with activities for all ages. Come along and join us, searching for beetles, doing a bug hunt, shaking a bush and maybe even seeing moths up close. You may be surprised at the beauty of these ‘creepy crawlies!
Foxearth Meadows sits on the River Stour floodplain in a quiet corner of Essex on the border with Suffolk. The eleven acre reserve has a variety of habitats including the river and riverbank, wetlands and woodland, an ancient field boundary, a series of ponds and marshy flower-rich grassland. Managed especially for dragonflies and damselflies, it is also home to a wealth of wildlife including Otter, Kingfisher, Harvest mouse, Common lizard, Grass snake and Common toad. It has been owned and managed by A Rocha UK since 2015.
Dragonflies and damselflies are more than just dazzling aerial acrobats — they’re also key players in healthy freshwater ecosystems. As both predators and prey, they help maintain ecological balance, and their presence is a strong indicator of water quality and environmental change. When dragonflies are thriving, it’s often a sign that our ponds, rivers, and wetlands are doing well too.
In this webinar, we’ll dive into the fascinating world of dragonfly and damselfly surveys — from straightforward techniques suitable for beginners, to more detailed methods used by seasoned recorders. You’ll get an introduction to a range of survey approaches, including:
- Point Counts: Standing at a specific point within or at the edge of a wetland and recording what you can see from that point.
- Transect Walks: Recording the dragonflies along the edge of linear or larger waterbodies.
- Exuviae Surveys: A hands-on method that involves finding the cast-off skins of emerging adults — a reliable way to confirm breeding sites.
- Species-specific Surveys: Survey methods tailored to the specific ecology, behaviour and habitat preferences of target species.
- Site Evaluation: Undertaking priority site assessments to determine if a site is of local and/or national importance.
We’ll look at the benefits and limitations of each technique, when to time your surveys, what habitats and conditions to focus on, and how your sightings can contribute to national initiatives like the British Dragonfly Society’s recording scheme.
Whether you’re an amateur naturalist looking to get more involved in dragonfly monitoring or a conservation professional assessing the health of sites for dragonflies, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to plan your own dragonfly surveys.
The 90-minute event will consist of a 1-hour presentation followed by a Q&A with the tutor using questions provided by the live audience.
The presentations will be recorded and shared with those who booked alongside Q&A transcripts and relevant links following the event via a password-protected website.
Dragonfly & Damselfly Specialist: Dave Smallshire
Dave Smallshire is a lifelong naturalist and former agri-environment adviser with a passion for birdwatching and dragonflies. With 40+ years of experience in entomology and conservation, he co-authored Britain’s Dragonflies, leads global wildlife tours, and actively surveys and conserves biodiversity in Devon.
Booking required via Eventbrite: here.
Monitoring biodiversity is vital for making evidence-based decisions when it comes to our impact on nature, be that conservation, planning decisions or implementing guidance and best practice.
The Biological Recording: Local To National Virtual Symposium will explore how biological recording is undertaken at varied geographic scales, from site-based recording informing the ongoing management of a site to national surveillance schemes that inform government policy and legislation.
Biological recorders, citizen scientists, conservationists and biodiversity-sector professionals are all invited to join us for a celebration of the importance of recording wildlife.
Speaker Programme
This event will be hosted by Dr Sarah Whild (National Forum for Biological Recording) and feature four presentations, each focusing on the relevance of biological recording at a different geographic scale, in addition to Q&A sessions with each speaker:
- Charismatic Clearwings in Mid Wales with Dr Norman Lowe (Brecknock Moth Group)
- Tracking the Impact: Landscape Scale Monitoring Across the Chilterns with Nick Marriner (Chilterns National Landscape)
- 30 Years of Garden BirdWatch with Susan Jones (British Trust for Ornithology)
- Getting To Scale: Biodiversity Monitoring for Local Change Detection with Caroline Coogan (Joint Nature Conservation Committee)
The presentations will be recorded and shared with those who booked alongside Q&A transcripts and lists of useful links via a password-protected website following the event.
Have a go at some activities and crafts to celebrate Dragonfly Day and learn more about these amazing insects.
Drop into the Education Centre at Whisby Nature Park to have a go at pond dipping and to learn more about dragonflies. Have a go at some art and craft activities to create your own dragonflies to take home.
Activities are available free, 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
For more information, please get in touch with our Education Team; email: whisbyeducation@lincstrust.co.uk or by phone: 01522 696926.
Click here for more information.
[Image: Common Darter by Dave Smallshire]
Discover the Magic of Dragonflies at Panshanger Park!
Join dragonfly experts Tim Hill & Steve Brooks from HMWT for a fascinating guided walk along the Panshanger Park Dragonfly Trail. Dive into the world of these incredible insects as you learn about their lifecycles, hunting techniques, and unique resting behaviours. Along the way, you’ll also get the chance to identify different dragonfly species in their natural habitat.
Distance: Approx. 2 miles over uneven ground/tracks
Dogs: Welcome on a lead
Who Can Join? Suitable for adults, families, and children aged 8+
Weather Notice: The walk may be cancelled in the event of strong winds or rain.
Limited Spaces – Booking Essential! Secure your spot to avoid disappointment. Book via Eventbrite.
For any questions, please contact dan.hamley@maydencroft.co.uk.
This FREE guided walk is part of Tarmac’s community programme at Panshanger Park—a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature and explore the beauty of dragonflies up close!
This event is running several times. See Eventbrite page to book any of the following slots:
17th May 11am
17th May 1.30pm
14th June 11am
14th June 1.30pm
12th July 11am
9th August 11am
13th September 11am
[Image: Panshanger Park by Jen Gilbert]
Discover the Magic of Dragonflies at Panshanger Park!
Join dragonfly experts Tim Hill & Steve Brooks from HMWT for a fascinating guided walk along the Panshanger Park Dragonfly Trail. Dive into the world of these incredible insects as you learn about their lifecycles, hunting techniques, and unique resting behaviours. Along the way, you’ll also get the chance to identify different dragonfly species in their natural habitat.
Distance: Approx. 2 miles over uneven ground/tracks
Dogs: Welcome on a lead
Who Can Join? Suitable for adults, families, and children aged 8+
Weather Notice: The walk may be cancelled in the event of strong winds or rain.
Limited Spaces – Booking Essential! Secure your spot to avoid disappointment. Book via Eventbrite.
For any questions, please contact dan.hamley@maydencroft.co.uk.
This FREE guided walk is part of Tarmac’s community programme at Panshanger Park—a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature and explore the beauty of dragonflies up close!
This event is running several times. See Eventbrite page to book any of the following slots:
17th May 11am
17th May 1.30pm
14th June 11am
14th June 1.30pm
12th July 11am
9th August 11am
13th September 11am
[Image: Panshanger Park by Jen Gilbert]
Discover the Magic of Dragonflies at Panshanger Park!
Join dragonfly experts Tim Hill & Steve Brooks from HMWT for a fascinating guided walk along the Panshanger Park Dragonfly Trail. Dive into the world of these incredible insects as you learn about their lifecycles, hunting techniques, and unique resting behaviours. Along the way, you’ll also get the chance to identify different dragonfly species in their natural habitat.
Distance: Approx. 2 miles over uneven ground/tracks
Dogs: Welcome on a lead
Who Can Join? Suitable for adults, families, and children aged 8+
Weather Notice: The walk may be cancelled in the event of strong winds or rain.
Limited Spaces – Booking Essential! Secure your spot to avoid disappointment. Book via Eventbrite.
For any questions, please contact dan.hamley@maydencroft.co.uk.
This FREE guided walk is part of Tarmac’s community programme at Panshanger Park—a wonderful opportunity to connect with nature and explore the beauty of dragonflies up close!
This event is running several times. See Eventbrite page to book any of the following slots:
17th May 11am
17th May 1.30pm
14th June 11am
14th June 1.30pm
12th July 11am
9th August 11am
13th September 11am
[Image: Panshanger Park by Jen Gilbert]
WWT Steart Marshes is a Dragonfly Hotspot, home to 23 species of dragonfly! Discover the dragonfly species at the site, including their lifecycle and why this wetland habitat is so important for them.
The event runs 10am-3pm on both Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th.
For further details and timings of activities, see the WWT webpage: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/steart-marshes/whats-on/events/dragonfly-weekend-25
[Image: Blue-tailed Damselfly at Steart Marshes by Dave Smallshire]
This 2.5 day intermediate Freshwater Invertebrates course will provide you with the surveying and identification skills you need to begin to survey freshwater habitats.
Freshwater invertebrates are those which spend at least part of their lifecycle in freshwater, and they are often used in freshwater ecology studies as indicators to assess the health of freshwater ecosystems. Knowing how to identify freshwater species is a key skill for any ecologists or conservationists working in freshwater habitats.
This course will include:
- Introduction to freshwater ecosystems
- Sampling techniques and water quality assessments
- Identification of species
- Bio-security, legislation, risk management and invasive species management
This beginner to intermediate course is designed to be a gentle introduction to surveying freshwater invertebrates for those that have had limited or no experience of identifying them.
You will use hand lenses, microscopes and identification keys to look at what makes a mayfly a mayfly, and how to tell apart the larvae of beetles and flies. Our tutor will guide you through a combination of classroom and field sessions to build up your knowledge, skills and confidence.
This course will include:
- An overview of the major groups of freshwater invertebrates in the UK.
- Sampling techniques including practical experience of pond sampling and river sampling.
- An introduction to using and understanding identification resources to identify freshwater invertebrates to both order and family level.
- A beginners guide to setting up and using microscopes to view freshwater invertebrates.
- Practical experience of using the Field Studies Council AIDGAP ‘Key to the major groups of British freshwater invertebrates‘ to identify invertebrates to order and family level using external morphological features.