Wishing a very happy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough, Patron of the British Dragonfly Society @britishdragonflies.bsky.social and world class communicator. Here's an image of Attenborough's Pintail from Madagascar, named after the great man on his 90th birthday.

It won't be long until the Dainty Damselfly starts to emerge, so now is a good time to get familiar with the identification of the species. There are probably unfound colonies out there still waiting to be found. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @smallshire.bsky.social #KentDragonflies

7 dragonfly spp at Ventiford near Stover today: Devon's earliest ever Downy Emerald (4 terr. males, 19 exuviae, 5 emerging - first proof of breeding here) & Red-eyed Damselflies. Also 8 Hairy Dr, Beaut Dem, Azure, Large Red and Blue-tailed. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @marcheath.bsky.social

Saw my first of the year yesterday too, in Devon. Also pleased to find an exuvia at an urban fringe SUDS pond! @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

A great lineup for the end of April!

A welcome visitor to my S Devon garden: a recently emerged male Broad-bodied Chaser - my first of the year.

Inputting sightings to BirdTrack: on this day in 1968 walk from Gradbach to Roaches across N Staffs Moors produced B Grouse, 38 R Grouse, G Plover, Curlew, Snipe, S-e Owl, Wheatears, 3 R Ouzel & 3 Y Wags over. Wonder what walk today would produce! @btobirds.bsky.social @westmidbirdclub.bsky.social)

First signs of Large Red Damselflies emerging from my pond today, and significant activity from Red Mason Bees also. Drone Fly in flight showing front legs tucked behind head, like dragonflies do!

Just found 12 recently moulted Southern Hawker skins in this tiny pond.

Good to see my first Large Red Damselflies (3 tenerals) of the year today at Stover CP, Devon.

Back to Cockwood today as my views of a distant 'orange-billed' Tern weren't great and certainly inconclusive on 03/12. But today though distantly perched it did one circuit our way and gave great in-flight scope views. A few quick shots with a 400mm lens. Happy I've seen Lesser Crested Tern👍

Curious about damselflies? 🌿 Unlock identification skills & learn about the 20 UK species with this online course from Biological Recording — just £15. Start your wildlife journey ➡️ courses.biologicalrecording.co.uk/courses/dams... @smallshire.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

2 pairs of Common Darters egglaying in the newly-restored Serpentine lake at Stover today!

I am leading a course next year on behalf of Kent Wildlife Trust 'An introduction to Dragonflies and Damselflies'. See below for further details. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/events/intro...

The latest BDS Journal is available online, where you can also access previous issues 👉 british-dragonflies.org.uk/bds-journal/

This is unfortunate the Sparrowhawk. It only flew a couple of feet, but out of view. It flew to our fence, but dropped the dove on the floor. I couldn't see the hawk, but when I went to look at the dove, the hawk flew from nearby past my face! Magpies found the dove and removed it in no time!

After hearing loud thump on my study window, I discovered a young Sparrowhawk sitting on pondweed in the middle of my pond. What was even more surprising was that when it took off it pulled a Collared Dove out of the water beneath it!

\o/ Available now on Talking Bat Podcast \o/ Excellent interview with Dave Smallshire @smallshire.bsky.social chatting about his life journey Once you finish listening to Dave, why not check out all the other brilliant people we have spoken to in the series batability.podbean.com/e/talking-dr...

Female Southern Hawker ovipositing in our garden pond today.

One of the most incredible WTF!! moments I have witnessed in 41 years birding Belvide. 8 White-rumped Sandpiper on the north shore between 4pm-5.30pm. Just short of a British Record of 11 on the outer Hebrides. Thought I'd lost the plot when I saw them. Still pinching myself. #UKbirding

A Southern Hawker egglaying at my pond surprised me by flying up, landing on my tee-shirt and testing me as an oviposition site! As I fumbled to try and get my phone out for a photo, she flew ... and landed on my wrist! I know Southern Hawkers are inquisitive, but that's ridiculous!

A triple birthday whammy in my S Devon garden this morning: Green Woodpecker, this Sparrowhawk (went off to chase a sparrow) and just now my first Hummingbird Hawk-moth of the year. Good things always come in threes!

07/08 Start P 1100-1600: Wilson's Storm-petrel (also another more distant or same bird), 23 European Storm-petrels, 691 Manx, only 7 Balearics!! (record no's further N), 22 Sandwich terns, 2 Common Terns, 14 Fulmar, juv Yl Gull, 5 Med Gulls, Turnstone, Redshank, 20+ ABF Tuna, 15 C Dolphins

Highlight of the year at my pond: Southern Hawker egglaying into rotten wood. Check out that ovipositor! Pondwatching is great!

Very privileged to have received a complimentary copy of the fifth edition of 'Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland' and to have some photos published in it too. Published in the UK from the 2nd September 2025. Looks brilliant. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @smallshire.bsky.social

Looks good to me

Another great reason to keep the dead elm at the bottom of my garden: first Green Woodpecker (juvenile) in the garden for over 20 years - and that was in the same tree!

Delighted to have my image of the type specimen of the newly-described Fossa Knifetail (Nesocordulia fossa) in a paper describing 6 new Nesocordulia from Madagascar in 2016. We saw at least 3 of these, including Fossa and Crabshear Knifetails found by K-D Dijkstra on the same day in Mantidia NP!

You should visit Belvide (Staffs) on wet day in May. Estimates of up to 3000 taking non-biting midges. Birds flying low over the dam will part your hair!

Today's sudden heatwave brought in the first 2 Common Darters of the year to my garden pond in south Devon, joining Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies. Emperor came to egg-lay briefly and Southern Hawker back on territory at 18:20! #PondWatch @BDSdragonflies

🌟Dragonfly Week is here!🌟 Looking for a fun and relaxing way to enjoy nature with the family? Head to your nearest pond, slow down, and see how many dragonflies & damselflies you can spot. 👉 Visit our website for free resources, family-friendly events, and identification help. 🔗

Surprised to see a male Golden-ringed Dragonfly perched over my garden pond in south Devon this morning - only the second to do so in 35 years! Should be at running water, but they do wander widely. #PondWatch @BDSdragonflies

For 30 mins at 5 pm the first territorial Southern Hawker of the year appeared at my garden pond in south Devon, joining a meagre 2 Azure Damselflies. I've only had 1 Southern Hawker emerge so far, but my neighbour's tiny pond has had 6! #PondWatch @BDSdragonflies

Survey of Stover CP yesterday in mostly cloudy but hot weather produced 17 species. Highlights were Lesser Emperor, Downy Emerald and Scarce Chasers.

Nice to see some rare UK insects in N Bohemia on last week's Naturetrek tour: Chequered Skipper and Wart-biter Bush-cricket. An American Mink peering out of a riverside woodpile was perhaps not so welcome!

Emeralds in N Bohemia on last week's Naturetrek tour: Downy (surprisingly common), Brilliant and Yellow-spotted (hard to make out the orange-yellow spots on a mature male!), and by contrast a beautiful immature Small Bluetail.

Some more highlights from last week's Naturetrek tour to N Bohemia, Czechia: Lilypad, Yellow-spotted and Small Whitefaces, and a newly-emerged Green Snaketail.

Personal highlight of last week's Naturetrek Dragonflies of North Bohemia (Czechia) tour: male Dark Whiteface (Leucorrhinia albifrons), which performed brilliantly on our final day. Images show adult male, emerging male and teneral male (x2). More to follow when images processed!

" Sunrise at the allotments this morning before it gets too hot to work, I was greeted by these two " - thank you Penny Smallshire ‪@anaspenelope.bsky.social‬ for sharing ! #FoxOfTheDay

Delighted to find 10+ male Scarce Chasers at Decoy CP, Newton Abbot, today. None seen last year, but 3 males in 2023.

Over 200 pairs of Azure Damselflies egglaying into pond weed at DWT's Chudleigh Knighton Heath today! And more on other ponds...

Downy Emerald was the star at DWT's Little Bradley Ponds today: emerging male here, with 5 other exuviae all in Gr Tussock Sedge. Also 5 territorial males and an egglaying female. 2 Hairy Dragonflies also.

Superb few hours @Sandwich Bay where I managed to find c20 DAINTY DAMSELFLY and 3 SCARCE BLUE-TAILED DAMSELFLY amongst the other Damselfly species.

Plenty of non-bird interest during a recent trip to Lesvos: Giant Peacock Moth, Ladybird Spider, Snake-eyed Lizard and Southern Comma.

A miscellany of nice birds seen during a recent trip to Lesvos: Collared Flycatcher, Greater Short-toed Lark, Kruper's Nuthatch and Scops Owl.

Excellent birds at Kalloni Saltpans during a recent trip to Lesvos (post 2): Black-winged Stilts, Ruff, White-winged Tern and Red-throated Pipit.

Excellent waders at Kalloni Saltpans during a recent trip to Lesvos (post 1): Spur-winged Lapwing, Temminck's Stint, Spotted Redshank and Curlew Sandpiper.

During a recent trip to Lesvos, the Tsiknias River at Kalloni was a magnet for usually skulking water birds: Great Snipe (my first for about 50 years!), Spotted Crake, Squacco Heron, and more Little Bitterns than you could shake a stick at.

Buntings were prominent during a recent trip to Lesvos: Black-headed, Cinereous, Corn (with bush-crickets) and Cretzschmar's. And Cirl was around, just for good measure!

Dragonflies were generally hard to find on a recent trip to Lesvos during cool N airflow, but here are some: Small Pincertail, Small Skimmer male and female, and Red-veined Darter mature female.