Monmouthshire annual dragonfly summary 2018
This is my first report for Darter since taking on the role of Monmouthshire County Dragonfly Recorder in summer 2018. I cover Monmouthshire vice-county, which is a little larger than the former Gwent, and significantly bigger than the modern Monmouthshire local authority area, covering the levels habitat from the east edge of Cardiff through to Chepstow, the city of Newport, the western valleys and mountains north to the southern parts of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and the agricultural landscapes east to the Wye Valley: a very varied county, with a diverse range of species. The most notable sighting of the year was our second Lesser Emperor, at Ynys y Fro reservoirs, found by Darryl Spittle. Small Red-eyed Damselfly continues to colonise the county, with records from several new sites in the southern coastal strip. Common Clubtail was well-recorded at its reliable and accessible sites on the Wye around Monmouth. I have spent the winter processing the backlog of 1300 records in iRecord: this is almost complete. Thank you to everyone who has contributed these over the years. If you are an active dragonfly recorder in this part of the world it would be great to hear from you so please do get in touch.
Steve Preddy, Monmouthshire County Dragonfly Recorder, British Dragonfly Society