39. Small Redeye - Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Erythromma viridulum - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum ) is noticeably smaller than its larger namesake - Erythromma najas and it is on the wing somewhat later than that species. Southern and western Europe contain the main populations but it is another dragonfly which is [...]
33. Spearhead Bluet - Northern Damselfly -Coenagrion hastulatum - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Spearhead Bluet - Northern Damselfly ( Coenagrion hastulatum ) is only found in small populations in north-east Scotland although it is relatively common in Europe although numbers seem to be decreasing there at lower elevations due to deterioration of habitat. Preferred breeding sites include unshaded acidic pools, [...]
12. Western Willow Spreadwing - Willow Emerald Damselfly -Lestes viridis - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Western Willow Spreadwing - Willow Emerald Damselfly (Lestes viridis) has a longer abdomen than other Lestes and appears larger overall. It is relatively common and although endemic to the Western Palaearctic it is another species which has only recently [...]
10. Small Spreadwing - Lestes virens - European Dragonfly photo The Small Spreadwing (Lestes virens) can be confused with the Migrant Spreadwing - Lestes barbarus which occupies much the same range within Europe. It often breeds in waters which become seasonally dry. In the south of its range it can be found from April onwards although [...]
055. Green-eyed Hawker - Norfolk Hawker - Aeshna isoceles - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Green-eyed Hawker - Norfolk Hawker ( Aeshna isosceles ) has been re-named from the Norfolk Hawker in order to acknowledge it's largely European distribution. It can only be found in numbers at localised sites in eastern counties of England such as sheltered areas at [...]
136. Common Darter - Sympetrum striolatum - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Common Darter ( Sympetrum striolatum ) is widespread and as common as its name implies. It is also migratory, sometimes in large numbers. It breeds in a range of different waters but seems to prefer those which are quite shallow and stagnant which consequently [...]
058. Blue Hawker - Southern Hawker - Aeshna cyanea - UK - European Dragonfly The Blue Hawker - Southern Hawker ( Aeshna cyanea ) was one of the earliest dragonflies I remember photographing many years ago as shown in the first image above. I followed its flight towards the end of the day when it went to roost [...]
057. Azure Hawker - Aeshna caerulea - UK - European Dragonfly phot These Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea) photos from scanned transparancies are included for historic reasons. In June 1985 I joined an early British Dragonfly Society long weekend field trip to Scotland and then decided to stay on around Loch Maree, Ross-shire for the remainder of [...]
Coenagrion – Eurasian Bluets - Azure and Variable Bluets 25. Variable Bluet – Coenagrion pulchellum - UK - European Dragonfly photo The Azure Bluet - Azure Damselfly ( Coneagrion puella ) is relatively abundant in the U K compared to the relative scarcity of the Variable Bluet - Variable Damsefly(Coenagrion pulchellum ) as the latter may [...]
Brachythemis – Groundlings 151. Northern Banded Groundling - Brachythemis impartita - European Dragonfly photo The Northern Banded Groundling ( Brachythemis impartita ) is not an easy species to photograph well. The colouration blends in with the earthy background where it is normally found. Consequently there is high contrast with the black wing patches. The Goundlings are [...]