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DragonflyAdventCalendar

DragonflyAdventCalendar

by Peter Sketch Peter Sketch

A feed collecting the British Dragonfly Society advent calendar posts.

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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
10 months ago
A Keeled Skimmer #dragonfly for #BlueBugs Monday. Which is of course the only thing of any note happening today. Photo from August 2023 at Thursley, as featured in the #DragonflyAdventCalendar last month. #invertebrates #UKWildlife
A dragonfly with a pale blue abdomen, dark blue eyes and brown/black elsewhere sits on the planks of a boardwalk, sunbathing with its wings extended.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
10 months ago
A bonus day 25 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. After 24 of my own pictures I always end with this - E H Shepard's drawing of one of history's most famous dragonfly surveyors observing a Banded Demoiselle. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates
A coloured drawing. Winnie The Pooh sits on a stepping stone half way across a stream. He is looking up into the sky where there is a dragonfly which seems to be doing the distinctive dancing flight of the male Banded Demoiselle. Pooh appears to be watching it, although some uninformed people think he is just lost in thought.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
10 months ago
Day 24 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Of course we end with Common Darter, often the latest-flying of our common species, well into October and sometimes November. This one at Coate Water, Swindon, in late August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A dragonfly sits on a fallen branch, sunbathing. Its abdomen is a mixture of yellow and orange, reflecting a gradual change of colour. A close look at its legs shows that each has a pale stripe running along its length, rather than being entirely black.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
10 months ago
Day 23 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Blue-tailed Damselfly is one of the commonest species. This is a male; females come in a variety of colour patterns. At the fake canal in East Wichel, Swindon in August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A small insect sits on a leaf floating on water. It is mainly black with a blue band near the end of its abdomen. It is sunny enough that the insect casts a shadow on the leaf.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 22 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Black-tailed Skimmer, seen from an unusual angle, looking down at one sunbathing on a low fence. At WWT Slimbridge last summer. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A dragonfly sits sunbathing on the vertical side of a wooden fence. We are looking down on it and can see its green eyes and brown thorax, with the blue abdomen only seen from the side, showing it is quite narrow from this angle. The tip of the abdomen is black rather than blue.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 21 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Emerald is a declining species but widespread across the country. It likes overgrown ponds with lots of emergent vegetation. This immature male was at Rivermead in Swindon in late June. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A green damselfly sits on a grass leaf. Its wings are folded along its body. It has no patches of blue, but does have curved appendages on the tip of its abdomen, showing it's an immature male not a female.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 20 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. White-faced Darter is small and rare but spectacular. It's a bog specialist and mainly lives in Scotland. This one from Whixall Moss, its only site in Wales, a couple of years ago. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A dragonfly sits on a plant stem above a bog pool. It is black with several patches of bright red. It is looking away from us so very little of the front of its head can be seen - what can be seen is white.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 19 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Small Red Damselfly is tiny and lives in wild, boggy heath areas. Since I love exploring such habitats, I am naturally very fond of this damselfly. This one in the New Forest in early July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A small insect sits on the leaf of a small water-plant (Marsh St John's Wort) near the surface of a boggy stream. Its long, thin abdomen is entirely red, its thorax is dark and shiny, its eyes are red. Its legs are a pink-ish colour, not black like those of the Large Red.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 18 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Small Red-eyed Damselfly is a fairly new species for the UK but has spread right across southern England and Wales. This one at RSPB Frampton Marsh in early August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A small insect sits on a sedge leaf. It is mainly black with blue sides to its thorax and a blue tip to its tail. Its eyes are red.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 17 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Migrant Hawker is a fairly recent arrival in the UK, mainly seen in Kent and Essex. I'd never managed a photo of one in flight before this. Seen at the famous ditch in Canvey Island in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A large dragonfly hovers in flight, its wings moving too fast for the camera and just a blur. It has blue eyes, a green and blue thorax and a black-and-blue abdomen. The abdomen has a lot of blue, rather than the small spots of our other hawker species.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 16 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Keeled Skimmer is a very common species of bogs and fens, rarely seen elsewhere. They look and behave a bit like darters. This one was at Thursley last summer. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A pale blue dragonfly sunbathing on the flat surface of a boardwalk. The boardwalk was built to allow visitors to explore the bog safely.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 15 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. It's the third Sunday of Advent so we should have a pink dragonfly. This isn't a UK photo, it's a Violet Dropwing, an African species spreading in southern Europe. This one in Rome a few years ago. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A dragonfly perches on the end of a twig. Its eyes are red, its body a mix of pink and red. It is holding its abdomen up well above the horizontal but rather than sunbathing it's actually lined up to reduce the amount of sunlight on it, to avoid overheating.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 14 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Banded Demoiselle is my favourite species. The males make display flights with the dark wing patches making mesmerising patterns above the river surface. This one in Swindon in late June. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A metallic green insect sits on an iris leaf. Its wings are held next to its body and have large black patches on otherwise clear wings. It has a sharply-defined shadow and is angling its body to maximise its exposure to the sun.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 13 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Blue damselfly is very common and the males are very blue. Females are much darker. In the right habitat, such as here at Wilts Wildlife Trust's Lower Moor Farm, this species will form swarms. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A long thin insect clings to a rush stem. It is mainly bright blue with some black parts.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 12 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Emerald Damselfly is small and easy to overlook but for me this was the highlight of my year - it was the only UK breeding species I'd never seen. In a ditch in Canvey Island in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A small needle-shaped insect sits on a twig near ground level. Its body is copper-coloured. At the tail end the appendages on the very tip are white. Its wings are held out at an angle to the body, not folded flat. The spot near the tip of each wing is black and white.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 11 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Golden-ringed Dragonfly is one of our most spectacular species, brightly-coloured and huge. They don't often sit still so I was lucky with this one, on Dartmoor in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A very large dragonfly hangs down from a gorse bush, Its body is long and thin. It is black all over with thin bright yellow stripes. Its eyes are green.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 10 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Red-eyed Damselfly is a bit larger than most damsels. Usually seen sitting on floating vegetation on a pond or slow river but this one was more cooperative. Lower Moor Farm Wilts Wildlife Trust in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A large damselfly sitting on a leaf. Its abdomen is black with a blue tip at the tail end. Its thorax is black on top and blue at the sides. Its eyes are a deep red colour.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 9 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Scarce Emerald Damselfly is restricted to the east here but commoner on the continent. It looks like the Common Emerald but is chunkier and has brighter blue eyes. This one in Canvey Island in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A long, thin insect. It's body is all green except for powder-blue patches and the front and tail of the abdomen. Its eyes are a vivid bright blue. It is holding its wings out at 45 degrees from its body rather than folding them flat along the abdomen like most damselflies do.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 8 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Ruddy Darter is the second-commonest of the red species in the UK, very widespread. This one was at the wonderful @rspb.bsky.social Strumpshaw Fen near Norwich in early August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A bright red dragonfly sits on a pale wooden bench, sunbathing.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 7 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Damselfly is a rare species, one of the few that are protected by UK law. This one was in the New Forest in early July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A black and blue needle-shaped insect sites on a water plant at the edge of a shallow stream. It looks very like the Azure Damselfly from day 4 but has a large, complicated black mark at the top of its abdomen where the Azure has a simple u shape.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
If you're enjoying the #DragonflyAdventCalendar do consider joining the British Dragonfly Society - £25 a year, or slightly more if you're outside the UK because of postage on the members magazines. british-dragonflies.org.uk/membership/m...

british-dragonflies.org.uk

Membership - British Dragonfly Society
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 6 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Hairy Dragonfly is quite localised in the UK but spreading. It's the first of the really large ones to emerge. This one at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Lower Moor Farm in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A large dragonfly sits on a leaf. It has blue eyes, a brown, hairy thorax with yellow stripes and a dark abdomen with blue spots.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 5 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. The aptly-named Beautiful Demoiselle. Demoiselles are larger than other damselfly species and unlike other odonata the males make display flights to attract females. This one in the New Forest in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A metallic-green insect sits on a leaf slightly above the surface of a shallow stream. Its wings are dark coloured - it shows these off in flight to impress females. The other Demoiselle species in the UK is Banded Demoiselle which has dark patches on its wings not solidly dark.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 4 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Azure Damselfly is one of two very common blue species in the UK. There are some rarer ones too. This one at @rspbotmoor.bsky.social in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
A needle-shaped insect sits on a leaf. It is mainly blue with black markings. Near the front of its abdomen is a distinctive black u shape - the shape of this mark is the easiest way to tell the species apart.
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Peter Sketch
@petersketch.bsky.social
11 months ago
Day 3 of the 2024 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Large Red Damselfly is the first species to emerge each year in most of the UK. This mating pair at Ravensroost Woods Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve, in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife
Two needle-shaped insects with their abdomens joined in a loop. The red male grips the black and yellow female with the tip of his abdomen, she grips the underside of the front of his abdomen, which is where his secondary genitalia are. Dragonfly reproduction is kind of complex.
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