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toot.wales is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
We are the Mastodon social network for Wales and the Welsh, at home and abroad! Y rhwydwaith cymdeithasol annibynnol i Gymru, wedi'i bweru gan Mastodon!

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Peter Sketch

It's December so welcome to the 2023 featuring a different species each day for 24 days. We start with a Southern Migrant Hawker. A fairly recent arrival in the UK; this one was at in July. They like ditches with very little water, even if they dry out in summer. They're huge compared to most other UK species.

A large dragonfly with bright blue eyes and widespread blue spots on its dark coloured abdomen. It is hanging down from its perch on a reed.
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Peter Sketch

Day 2 of the 2023 and today we have a Keeled Skimmer, a classic species of bogs and wet heaths throughout the UK. This one was at the wonderful reserve at Bystock Pools in August.

A blue dragonfly sunbathing on the ground, specifically on a board from a boardwalk provided to allow visitors to walk across a bog without damaging the habitat.
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Peter Sketch

Day 3 of the 2023 Today's photo is a Common Clubtail. Despite the name they're not at all common. They like large, slow-flowing rivers. This one was by the Thames at Goring in late May. Despite the bright colouring they can be hard to spot when hiding like this.

A black and yellow dragonfly with green eyes sits among the leaves of a shrub, slightly hidden. The river is out of shot, behind the shrub.
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Peter Sketch

Day 4 of the 2023 Time for our first and it's the Large Red, which is generally the earliest to emerge each year in April. This one was at the great reserve Meadows, in early June.

A small, needle-shaped insect sits on a leaf in a sunny spot. The photo is taken from directly above it. The head and thorax are black with red eyes, the long thin abdomen is mainly bright red with some black markings towards the tail end.
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Peter Sketch

Day 5 of the 2023 . Brown Hawker is a very fast-flying species which doesn't settle often so I find it very hard to photograph. Except when a female is laying eggs, as here at the fantastic in in July.

A large brown dragonfly clings onto a clump of moss on the surface of a ditch, with the tip of her abdomen under the water to lay eggs. She has prominent brown veins in the front part of each wing ans is all brown except for some yellow stripes on the side of her thorax.
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Peter Sketch

Day 6 of the 2023 . One of our commonest species, the Blue-tailed Damselfly. This was at in in July, but there are probably some at the pond in your local park.

A small, needle-shaped insect sits on a blade of grass. Its head and thorax are black and blue, the abdomen is black with two bright blue segments near the tail end. The spots on the wings near the tip, which are dark in most species, are black and white.
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Peter Sketch

Day 7 of the 2023 . Common Darter is a very common species in late summer & autumn. In sheltered places they will last into November if it's sunny; there may even be a few now if you're near the south coast. This one was at in August.

A red dragonfly sits horizontally on top of a nettle plant. Its abdomen is orange-ish red, the side of its thorax has broad yellow stripes. The legs look pale but a loser inspection shows they are dark but have pale stripes running along the length of them.
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Peter Sketch

Day 8 of the 2023 . The White-legged Damselfly is a particularly beautiful with wide white legs & intricate patterning. It avoids ponds preferring slow-flowing rivers. This one was by the at in June.

A needle-shaped pale blue insect with intricate black markings sits on a blade of grass. The river is out of focus behind it. The hind-most of the three pairs of legs have broad white flares attached to them, making them look very broad.
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Peter Sketch

Day 9 of the 2023 . Common Emerald . This is a newly-emerged male, with bright green colouring, no blue patches yet and the wing spots still very pale. Sadly these aren't as common in the UK as they once were. In the rest of Europe this would be called Common Spreadwing rather than Common Emerald. At Meadows in June.

A long, thin insect, bright green with an orange patch at the back of its thorax. It is sitting on a blade of grass. Its wings are held spread out, not folded along its back as most damselflies do.
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Peter Sketch

Day 10 of the 2023 . It's a Sunday in Advent so I'll post my favourite species, the Banded Demoiselle. The female is bright green, the males have patterned wings and make display flights over the water to impress her. Beside the at in June.

A large green insect with clear wings sits on a nettle leaf. She holds her wings closed, being a damselfly, but in other respects looks more like a dragonfly. Her wings have white spots near the tips, which are typical of female demoiselles.
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Peter Sketch

Day 11 of the 2023 . Four-spotted Chaser is common, bulky and males are fond of fighting over ponds. Which makes them great to watch and a frequent food-source for hobbies. They also mate in flight, during which they're joined into a circle, with the female flying upside down and backwards. It's quite a sight. This male was at Meadows in June.

A largely-brown dragonfly with a wide abdomen and patterned wings sits on a reed stem.
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Peter Sketch

Day 12 of the 2023 . Azure is very common and lives almost everywhere in the UK. The males are one of two common species that are almost entirely bright blue. This mating pair was at my local park in in June.

Two needle-shaped insects each with its tail joined to the thorax of the other, forming a wheel. The male is blue and nearer the camera, the female green and black; she holds her abdomen upside down. They are sitting on a leaf.
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Peter Sketch

Day 13 of the 2023 . Migrant Hawker is our commonest large species in the autumn, sometimes feeding in large numbers at the edge of woodlands. This female was at Lakes in October.

A large, mainly brown dragonfly hangs from a dead reed stem. Her position is near vertical, head at the top, parallel with the reed stems and her brown and black colouring with yellow spots causes her to blend into the background unless seen close up.
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Peter Sketch

Day 14 of the 2023 . Common Blue is one of two UK damselfly species which are very common and have males which are very blue. In really good spots you may see them flying in swarms. This one was at Common National Nature Reserve in August.

A small thin insect coloured mainly bright blue sits on a flat wooden surface.
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Øystein H. Brekke ᚯᛦᛌᛐᛅᛁᚿ ᚼ ᛒ

@petersketch A Norwegian cousin - maybe. I don't think I can really tell them apart from coenagrion hastulatum.

When I see them, I always think of Douglas Adams' "hyper-intelligent shades of the colour blue". Don't know if they're hyper-intelligent, but they just look like shades of blue, shimmering in the air.

Blue and black damselfly (long, thin insect), sitting with folded wings on blade of grass
Peter Sketch

@oysteib Yes, that's common blue. The Coenagrion species have narrower stripes on top of the thorax, and a consistent black "spur" mark on the side of the thorax which Enallagma species lack.

Dec 14, 2023, 10:09 PM·Public
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