Smallford Pits update: no charges from Crown Prosecution Service
Last month, staff and volunteers at the BDS were outraged to learn about the apparent deliberate poisoning of ponds at one of Hertfordshire’s top dragonfly sites: Smallford Pits (read here). This…
County Dragonfly Recorder Reports 2020
British Dragonfly Society County Dragonfly Recorder Reports for 2020 are now available. Download them here to review the highlights of the 2020 dragonfly season in your County.
Meet Cephalozygoptera! The newly described, and sadly extinct, Odonata suborder
Researchers from Simon Fraser University, Canada, announced the classification of a new suborder of extinct Odonata after conducting an extensive review of fossil specimens and scientific papers dating back as…
Dragonfly-inspired nanotechnology in the fight against disease
After almost a year of dousing ourselves in hand sanitiser we are all well aware of the importance of disinfectants in the fight to control the spread of COVID-19. However,…
Top Hertfordshire Dragonfly Site Criminally Destroyed
Police and the Environment Agency are currently investigating the destruction of two protected ponds at Smallford Pits Local Wildlife Site near Saint Albans. Local residents were left aghast after discovering…
Pond Ponderings: Chapter One of My Pond Story by Carolyn Cooksey
Our Secretary Carolyn Cooksey is our newest Pond Ponderings writer. In chapter one of Carolyn’s pond story we hear about the creation of a garden pond at her new home…
Download “Dragonflies in Devon” by Dave Smallshire
Dave Smallshire, veteran County Dragonfly Recorder for Devon, has released a guide to the county’s Dragonflies, which you can download here, or from the Devon BDS page. The publication provides…
‘Ecological vandalism’ on the River Lugg
A mile of the River Lugg, near Kingsland, has been illegal bulldozed and straightened while the surrounding trees have been cut down. The River Lugg is designated a SSSI, site…
Pond Ponderings: Only one year old and full of dragonflies!
An update from Pamela Styles on her fairly new pond in Wales: Now that we’ve reached the end of a summer that was very different than expected, I’m even…
Pesticide Pollution from Pet Flea Treatment Aquatic Invertebrates
A recent study from the University of Sussex found fipronil, a chemical mostly widely used in pet flea treatment, in 99% of a near 400000 water samples taken from 20…