We’ve won the John Sawyer NBN Open Data Award 2021!
The BDS has won the National Biodiversity Network Trust’s John Sawyer NBN Open Data Award 2021. The award is given to organisations that make a significant contribution to open biodiversity data in the UK and are committed to working towards the NBN’s vision of “collecting and sharing wildlife data openly to educate and inform”. Since…
Study shows neonicotinoid water pollution drives decline in dragonfly emergence
While the impacts of neonicotinoids on pollinators have been widely publicised and condemned, evidence is growing that these agricultural chemicals are having similar consequences for aquatic invertebrates. In a recent study by the University of California, aquatic insect larvae populations were grown in outdoor pools and exposed to different levels of thiacloprid (insecticide) pollution. As…
UK Wildlife Podcast ~ State of Dragonflies
In the latest episode of the UK Wildlife Podcast, host Neil Phillips chats to BDS Officer Eleanor Colver about the results of State of Dragonflies 2021, and what they mean for the future of British species. Listen to the full episode here.
Willow Emerald Watch Project Report 2021
Thank you to everyone who submitted Willow Emerald Damselfly sightings. Here are the results of your hard work. . . Once again, Willow Emeralds had a good year, with numerous records from both traditional and new areas; 496 records have currently appeared on iRecord (as of 7/10/21), with many more likely to be submitted by…
High levels of medical drugs, harmful to invertebrates, present in British rivers
A study by Buglife, published on 26 September 2021, found widespread contamination from pharmaceutical products in UK waterways. Medical drugs enter river systems through various routes including output from water treatment facilities, runoff from agricultural land, and discharge from septic tanks. Anti-Inflammatories, Ibuprofen and Diclofenac, were found in 84% and 34% of the study’s samples…
State of Dragonflies 2021 report press release
More dragonflies are gaining than losing from climate change, but is this good news? The full report can be accessed here. The State of Dragonflies in Britain and Ireland 2021 report, just published online by the British Dragonfly Society (BDS), shows that dragonflies are bucking the trend of declining species in Britain and Ireland.…
NEW Garden Dragonflies Summer Video Guides
We’ve teamed up with super talented video editor and self-confessed ‘dragonfly obsessed’ Laura from the Wildlife Garden Project to make another set of video guides. Earlier in the year, we worked together to produce a guide to garden dragonflies in the spring and now we’ve followed this up with a summer version. Our video guides…
Exbury Gardens Recognised With Dragonfly Hotspot Status
Call for more garden wildlife ponds as Exbury Gardens recognised with ‘Dragonfly Hotspot’ status Exbury Gardens in the New Forest has joined an important national network of wildlife hotspots for dragonflies, and will now be encouraging visitors to attract the insects into their own back gardens. The south coast visitor attraction has been designated a…
Attract Dragonflies to your Garden
Learn all about the BDS’s latest partnership Hotspot site, Exbury Gardens, and how your garden can also become a dragonfly-utopia! HOW TO ATTRACT BEAUTIFUL DRAGONFLIES TO YOUR GARDEN – article by the Independent Migrant Hawker image by Trevor Willis
UK Wildlife Podcast Dragonfly Takeover
Did you know that there is an excellent podcast all about UK wildlife? One half of the Podcast duo is our Essex County Dragonfly Recorder, Neil Phillips, so dragonflies get their fair share of airtime. In the latest episode, Neil invited two of our team members on to chat all things dragonfly as it was…