Dragonfly Champion Ruary on the trail of a ‘Flying Fossil’: the New Zealand Bush Giant!
Our very own Dragonfly Champion Ruary Mackenzie Dodds and his wife Kari de Koenigswarter have been searching through the wilds of New Zealand to study the mysterious Bush Giant Dragonfly! The pair had to install large security cameras into wild landscapes in order to film the burrow dwelling larvae of the Bush Giant. They also … Continued
Dragonfly Challenge Coming Soon!
This July the British Dragonfly Society is running the Dragonfly Challenge #DragonflyChallenge2019 Can you find the 6 Challenge species? Follow the Dragonfly Challenge via facebook, twitter or instagram, or sign up to the newsletter for regular dragonfly facts, tips and activities. Find out more on the project web page
Dragonfly Delight at Rodley Hotspot Launch
We’re not quite sure what has happened but the weather behaved itself for another outdoor event! The sun shone on Rodley Nature Reserve as we all assembled our stalls early morning on Saturday. Banded Demoiselles were zipping around nearby and as the Leeds Birdfair at Rodley opened to the public crowds came in to chat … Continued
Pond Ponderings from Scotland: Big Plot and Big Dreams!
Our second ‘Pond Ponderings’ blogger is Andrew Walker, a very keen wildlife fan based in Scotland. Andrew is lucky enough to have a large plot to work with and will be bringing us updates on how his wildlife pond and garden are faring 5 years on. In his first post below we join him at … Continued
Stover Dragonfly Hotspot Launch Success!
On Saturday June 1st the weather gods were smiling down on us as we assembled our team of volunteers at the beautiful Stover Country Park in Devon. We were at this special place for a very special reason, to officially launch it as Dragonfly Hotspot! Stover was chosen to receive this special designation because it … Continued
Hopes flying high for seeing rare dragonflies in north Cumbria
An exciting conservation project is introducing one of Britain’s rarest dragonflies to Drumburgh Moss. The white-faced darter, a small, dark dragonfly with a distinctive white head, is currently only found in a handful of sites across England. Cumbria Wildlife Trust, the British Dragonfly Society and Natural England have launched a programme to introduce this rare species at Drumburgh Moss National … Continued
Assistance Needed with Specimen Collection for Portuguese Research Project
Ricardo Bessa is needs the help of British entomologists to complete his PhD at the Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, in Portugal. The objective of his PhD is to explore the bactericidal properties of insect wings’ nanotopographies from a broad range of insect species and attempt to synthetically replicate those structures. This work builds … Continued
Pond Ponderings – from Avopond, a brand new pond in suburban York
Welcome along our first Pond Pondering bloggers Mollie and Lawrence from York! “Beginning a new garden is always exciting and was a brilliant opportunity to create a pond and make it a focal point of my very own mini nature reserve. With only a small garden, the challenge has been to create a pond substantial … Continued
Welcome to Pond Ponderings – a pond blog by gardeners of all experience levels
Here you will find regular blog posts, Pondcasts, about garden ponds of all types and sizes created by gardeners of all experience levels and different budgets levels too. These posts will be honest accounts of the issues and joys that wildlife gardening and ponds in particular can bring. Including highlights of which species move into … Continued
Distribution trends of European dragonflies under climate change
A new study by Tim Termatt et al examines shifts in dragonfly species distribution across Europe in response to a warming climate. Data from a total of 10 European regions and 99 species were studied and compared to changes in climate over recent decades. The results indicate that European dragonfly species are showing an overall … Continued