Common Darters were frequently seen on a trip along the Coastal Link Cyclepath, south of the Toll Bridge, in the Butterfly Copse next to the Waterworks Road, on the Pixie Path to Mill Hill, and on the lower slopes of Mill Hill. The total number was over twenty.
20
September 2006
A
passage journey in the sunshine up the incline on the western bank of Lancing
Ring Nature Reserve following the narrow
winding path to the top of Lancing Clump, was uneventful with just a handful
of Common
Darters.
19
September 2006
Nine
Common
Darters
(dragonflies) were all resting in a row
on the wooden railing in the Butterfly Copse next to the
Waterworks
Road and a Southern Hawker
flew rapidly by. Four of the Common
Darters
had red abdomens and the others were a greyish-blue to fawn colour. More
Common
Darters
flew amongst the Ivy.
This
is worth a mention because of the propensity of this dragonfly (and also
butterflies
and flies) for settling on flat wooden railings
but not so much on fences.
18
September 2006
Common
Darters
(dragonflies) were very frequently (50+)
seen rising from the Coastal Link Cyclepath,
south of the Toll Bridge, as I cycled
along.
16
September 2006
Common
Darters
were seen occasionally on the Butterfly Copse next to the
Waterworks
Road,
with
a Southern Hawker
patrolling over Connaught Avenue in Shoreham.
15
September 2006
The
dragonflies known as Common Darters
were seen occasionally on the Butterfly Copse next to the
Waterworks
Road and Southern Hawkers
patrolling over the Waterworks Road.
11
September 2006
The
dragonflies known as Common Darters
and Southern Hawkers
(including mating pairs) were seen occasionally on Mill
Hill.
6 September
2006
On
a humid day Common
Darters
were frequently seen, on the Coastal Link
Cyclepath south of the Toll Bridge,
more on the Butterfly Copse next to the
Waterworks
Road and on the Pixie Path to Mill
Hill.
4 September
2006
Common
Darters were occasionally seen on the
Adur
Levels (east side) with occasional
Southern
Hawkers
on patrol.
27
August 2006
A
Migrant
Hawker, Aeshna
mixta, flew
above the
Butterfly Copse next to the
Waterworks Road.
20
August 2006
A
Southern
Hawker
patrolled the Waterworks Road,
17
August 2006
Both
Migrant
Hawkers and Southern Hawkers
were seen over the Waterworks Road, Old
Shoreham; at least one of each of these dragonflies
was confirmed, but there were probably more of them.
15 August 2006
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Six pairs of Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans, were mating over the stream at the northern edge of the Saltings Field near Botolphs. Ruddy Darters were on patrol and there were mating tandems of what looked like Common Darters in brownish-orange, but they could have been more Ruddy Darters. There were at least two other medium-sized dragonflies in flight over the Coastal Link Cyclepath but they were too quick to identify.
2
August 2006
A
large Southern Hawker
buzzed me by the stream at the northern edge of the Saltings Field near
Botolphs. This was the first of these spectacular insects I had seen for
over a year. There was a possible Southern
Hawker* and a female
Ruddy
(or Common) Darter over the Waterworks
Road (Old Shoreham) and a male definite Ruddy
Darter
in danger from the female
Emperor, where there were a handful of Blue-tailed
Damselflies including a mating pair. These
damsels were also seen over a brook next
to the Coastal Link Cyclepath.
(#
This
was a really large dragonfly and I thought it was a female Emperor at first.)
(*
medium-sized
dragonfly not positively identified.)
24 July 2006
A single male Ruddy Darter (dragonfly) was seen on Spring Dyke (next to Miller's Stream) but the field was too overgrown to enter with Hogweed up to two metres high.
18
July 2006
A
Banded
Agrion Damselfly passed through my south
Lancing garden at fence height without pausing to explore.
17
July 2006
On
the lower slopes of Mil
Hill, there was a large brownish damselfly,
almost
the same colour as a female Common Darter, but it landed for a couple seconds
only with folded closed wings, so it must be a damsel.
14
July 2006
I
thought I would like to see some dragonflies
myself, but blown along by a Fresh Breeze
(Force 5) in 22.7
ºC sunshine, the best I could manage
was a Broad-bodied Chaser
east of Botolphs (on the cyclepath north of the South Downs Bridge over
the Adur) and a dozen Blue-tailed Damselflies
on the same drainage ditch 100 metres further north. The observation of
the damselflies rather inferred that the larger predatory dragonflies were
not on patrol.
Adur
Levels
A splendid Southern Migrant Hawker, Aeshna affinis, and both male and female Ruddy Darters were captured on camera. They were discovered on the Adur Levels about a half mile north of the A27 Flyover. The dragonflies were seen in the narrow area of the drainage ditches and pastures between the cyclepath and the River Adur. (TQ 202 075). (This is very close to where I visited the day before.) The Southern Migrant Hawker is a rare immigrant dragonfly and the last one was discovered in Kent in 1952.
Identification by David Appleton
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"Congratulations on the Southern Migrant Hawker, Aeshna affinis,! This is only the second-ever verified record from the UK mainland, though from the descriptions supplied it sounds as if one was also in Avon about 10 years ago. I'll look after getting the record accepted, though I think we can all assume this will just be a formality! There have been quite a few of this Mediterranean sister species to Migrant Hawker seen in The Netherlands and Poland this year. Indeed they have been having records there for several years - like Lesser Emperor this is a species that has been expanding its range in recent times, probably as a result of climate change. It now appears to be pretty regular on Jersey, and I'm sure it's been overlooked in southern England in the past. Hopefully this will now change following your discovery! Congratulations once again!" 
[Comment from Adrian Parr, BDS Migrant Dragonfly Project co-ordinator] |
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9 July 2006
7 July 2006
At least half a dozen attractive Broad-bodied Chasers (dragonflies) patrolled the reeds and shallow water of Lancing Ring Dewpond in the early afternoon sunshine.
19 June 2006
