Common darter
A common small dragonfly around garden ponds, often flying late into the autumn. Males are red, females brown.
Entries by Trevor Beebee
Southern hawker laying eggs in pondside vegetation
One of Westbury’s commonest dragonflies. Males, which are mainly blue, often swarm in large numbers. 2019 was a particularly good year for them.
Fledgling house martin in an artificial nest
One of two successful nests on our house in 2020. Not so many of these summer visitors around the village these days.
Emperor dragonfly
The UK’s largest dragonfly and one of the first hawkers on the wing, usually in late spring. Large ponds are preferred for breeding, and hence it is mostly the larger garden ponds that are colonised. Males are always blue, females green but can be blue as in the photo. Both sexes have a distinct black […]
Four-spotted chaser
Another frequent visitor to garden ponds, recently arrived. The number of wing spots clearly distinguishes it from the otherwise similar but much rarer female Scarce Chaser, which only has dark spots at the wing tips. Male scarce chasers are blue, but both sexes of the four-spotted chaser are identical and thus virtually impossible to tell […]
Cream-spotted tiger moth
A local, mostly southern species that usually flies at night but, as in this case, can be diurnal immediately after emergence. Second year running in our garden.
Azure blue damselfly
Another species to emerge this month, the Azure Blue damselfly is more often met with in garden ponds than the Common Blue, which prefers large ponds and lakes. Not easy to distinguish, but the Azure Blue has blue shoulder stripes narrower than the black lines below them, unlike the Common Blue. This is a male, […]
Broad-bodied chaser
Male broad-bodied chaser (females are brown), the second of our damsel & dragonflies to appear in spring. Males patrol ponds and aggressively chase way other males that appear.
Large red damselfly
Large red damselflies are first of our damsels/dragons to emerge in spring. The male latches on to the female by holding on to her neck with claspers while she searches the pond for egg-laying sites.