by Paul Grennard

I decided to take a day trip to the Gwent Levels by train and bicycle to avoid the holiday crowds in my home county of Pembrokeshire, with the intention of looking for more Willow Emeralds (Chalcolestes viridis) after the first ones for Wales and Monmouthshire were found near Magor by the Monmouthshire Odonata Recorder Steve Preddy. Arriving at Goldcliff on my bicycle from Newport, my plan was to check the reens at Goldcliff Nature Reserve. Unfortunately, it was still very much overcast when I arrived at Goldcliff and Odonata activity was non-existent. So, I decided to check the lagoons for birds; this proved to be a bad idea as the lagoons were very dry and birds were in short supply.

After about an hour of waiting in one of the hides the clouds broke and the sun made an appearance. This was my opportunity to look for dragonflies and damselflies, and within seconds of leaving the hide I saw a Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) and then several Ruddy Darters (Sympetrum sanguineum). However, damselflies were few with only a couple of Blue-tailed Damselflies (Ischnura elegans). This prompted me to widen my search and I left the reserve and cycled a little way to Monk’s Ditch. By this time, most of the cloud had burnt off and full sunshine could be seen. I parked my bike and began scanning the ditch with my binoculars to be greeted by several Ruddy Darters, Migrant Hawkers and best of all several Small Red-eyed Damselflies (Erythromma viridulum). With so much to look at I made myself comfortable and carried on scanning with my binoculars.

Half an hour must have gone by before I noticed the Ash tree to my left was attracting two spreadwings. The abdomen on these looked green and appeared a little more robust than an Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa). I moved closer to get a better look and it turned out my initial suspicions, having watched good numbers of them on a recent visit to Canvey Island, Essex, were correct: I was watching two Willow Emeralds. At this point I let out a few choice expletives and punched the air; I then ran back to where I was sitting to get my camera to take some record shots. My two sightings were the second record of this damselfly for Wales and the second record for Monmouthshire.

[Following Paul’s discovery, Lee and Cathy Gregory visited the site, and found Willow Emeralds copulating and ovipositing, and oviposition scars which indicated that the species may actually have been present since 2024! Steve Preddy]

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