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.

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:

1. Charismatic Clearwings in Mid Wales with Dr Norman Lowe (Brecknock Moth Group)
2. Tracking the Impact: Landscape Scale Monitoring Across the Chilterns with Nick Marriner (Chilterns National Landscape)
3. 30 Years of Garden BirdWatch with Susan Jones (British Trust for Ornithology)
4. 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.