#dragonflyadventcalendar — Public Fediverse posts

A bonus day 25 of the 2025 #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. Happy Christmas to those who celebrate, happy holidays to those who don't and happy dragonfly-watching in 2026 to one and all. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates

Day 24 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Darter is the commonest dragonfly of late summer and especially autumn. My last one this year was in November! This one from the botanical gardens at the natural history museum in #Paris in August. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Day 23 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Ruddy Darter is one of two common red dragonflies in the UK. Males are a deeper red than Common Darters, have a distinct "waist" in the middle of the abdomen and have all-black legs with no stripes. This one was in #Essex in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Reminder that if you like the #DragonflyAdventCalendar you'll probably like their email newsletter at https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/get-involved/sign-up-for-e-news/
They're also quite active on Instagram, if that's your thing.

Extra bonus on day 22 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Realised I'd forgotten to include our most familiar species, Common Blue Damselfly. So you get a bonus image. Often seen in large numbers by lakes or slow rivers. This one was at #Whixall Moss, bogs not really being typical habitat but they do rather get everywhere. #Wales #Cymru #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Day 22 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Common Emerald is our only widespread green damselfly, although Willow Emerald (day 18) is gradually catching up. This species likes overgrown ponds - watch for males sat with their wings open like this one, waiting for either food or a mate. This one at #Whixall Moss, #Wales, in late June. #Cymru #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Day 21 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. The male Black Darter is black when mature, but this one had only just emerged so had colours more like a female. Some damselfly species have black females but this is our only black dragonfly. At #Whixall Moss, #Wales, in late June. The site is a large bog which straddles the border of Wales with Shropshire. #Cymru #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Day 20 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. There has to be a picture of damselflies doing the heart-shaped mating wheel, and today's the day. Blue-tailed Damselfly is very common and relatively tolerant of poor water quality so you'll find them everywhere. The male is the blue one, the female is green (females come in a variety of colours). #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Since day 19 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar is Emperor Dragonfly, here's a bonus image - the wonderful wire sculpture of a male Emperor at WWT Llanelli for their dragonfly festival in the summer. #Wales #Cymru #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #photography

Day 19 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Emperor Dragonfly is the big blue & green species that hovers over large ponds like a helicopter, bullying the other species out of the way. This is a female laying eggs, seen in August.
#DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 18 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Willow Emerald is the largest, slimmest and second most widespread of the UK's 4 Emerald Damselfly species. This is a Parisian one seen in August in the botanical gardens outside the natural history museum. #Paris #France #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 17 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Variable Damselfly looks very like the common Azure damsel but is much more sparsely distributed. In males, look for the broken blue lines on top of the thorax. Females need a bit of practice to distinguish from Azure. This one near RSPB Ham Wall, #Somerset, in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 16 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Scarce Chaser (top) likes rivers & is less scarce than it used to be, probably due to better water quality. Seen at #RSPB #StrumpshawFen in late June. Its friend lower down the perch is a Norfolk Hawker. #Norfolk #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 15 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. My only lifer of the year, Goblet-marked Damselfly, a close relative of our Common Blue. Waited years to see one, then saw 2 this year, #Paris in July & #Rome in Sept. It's quite thin and has more black than the Common Blue; in flight it looked a bit like a Blue-tailed Damsel. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 14 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. The 3rd Sunday of Advent is the day associated with pink rather than purple so let's have a pink dragonfly. Violet Dropwing is an African species which has spread through Southern Europe. This one in #Rome in September, at the very wonderful Villa Ada park. #Italy #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

If you like the #dragonflies on the #DragonflyAdventCalendar why not consider joining the British Dragonfly Society, which costs £25 a year in the UK, slightly more elsewhere due to postage costs on the magazine.
https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/membership/membership-sign-up-renewal/

Day 13 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. My favourite species, Banded Demoiselle. At #Goring by the #RiverThames in early June. Males make beautiful display flights over slow rivers & streams, something that in the UK only our 2 demoiselle species do. #Oxfordshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 12 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. White-legged Damselfly lives in slow-flowing rivers. This one was by the Thames at #Goring in June. They're very pale, almost white, when they first emerge, darkening to a pale blue still paler than out other blue damselflies. #Oxfordshire #RiverThames #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 11 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. The very appropriately named Beautiful Demoiselle. Males use their coloured wings in display flights to impress females; the two Demoiselle species are the only UK odonata that do this (most dragons & damsels just grab first and ask questions later). Photo beside the River Ray, #Swindon, in early July. #Wiltshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 10 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Keeled Skimmer is a common species of bogs in the UK. This one was in #Rome in September; individuals there have a blue thorax which would be brown here. #Italy #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 9 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Small Red Damselfly specialises in boggy areas. Males are red, females have varying proportions of red and black. Photo from the #NewForest in #Hampshire in July. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

If you're enjoying the #DragonflyAdventCalendar then you'll probably like the British Dragonfly Society's free monthly email with news about dragonflies in the UK and listings of events. It's free and you don't need to be a member. Sign up here if interested:
https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/get-involved/sign-up-for-e-news/

Day 8 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Norfolk Hawker is no longer restricted to Norfolk, thanks to improving water quality. It looks reddish in flight due to the brown body; when settled the green eyes are the key feature. The photo is from #Norfolk, though - RSPB #StrumpshawFen in late June. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 7 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Broad Scarlet is a very rare visitor to the UK from France, but last year they bred here for the first time at one site in #Hampshire. Maybe they'll settle? Photo from mid-July.
#DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 6 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Southern Damselfly is very rare in the UK and is a protected species. This one was in its stronghold in the #NewForest, in early July. Also found in South Wales if you know where to look. Details of its markings distinguish it from the very common Azure Damselfly. #Hampshire #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 5 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Large Red Damselfly is our first species to emerge in serious numbers, in April or even late March. It's not really spring until I've seen one of these. This one was at #Ravensroost Meadows #Wiltshire #WildlifeTrust reserve in May. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 4 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. An immature Black-tailed Skimmer settling in to roost at the wonderful #Wiltshire #WildlifeTrust reserve at #LowerMoor Farm in early June. Males turn blue after a few days while females retain this black and yellow stripy pattern. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 3 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. Four-spotted chaser, one of our commonest species and very easy to spot as the males fight over possession of ponds. They're one of several species that mate while flying, the female flying upside down and backwards! This one at my favourite #Wiltshire site, #Ravensroost Wood Wiltshire #WildlifeTrust nature reserve in June.
#DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

Day 2 of the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar. White-faced Darter is rare in the UK. It's a bog specialist and mainly lives in Scotland. This one from Whixall Moss, its only site in #Wales, in late June. The black body with red patches of the male is unique among UK dragonflies but seen in the females of a couple of (much smaller) damselfly species. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #invertebrates #ukwildlife #wildlife #Cymru #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography

It's December so welcome to the 2025 #dragonfly #AdventCalendar 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 #CanveyIsland #Essex 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 and relatively showy. #DragonflyAdventCalendar #ukwildlife #wildlife #insects #invertebrates #wildlifephotography #photography