BDS Dragonfly Week Round Up
It’s been a busy week at WWT Caerlaverock celebrating British Dragonfly Society Dragonfly Week.
Despite the rain, on the opening weekend our Reserve Placement Madisyn led the first Dragonfly Safari, local artist Kirsty Harris ran her first Art workshop, and we welcomed representatives from Viking Optical for an optics demonstration showcasing a range of binoculars and scopes. Thankfully, the weather picked up for the rest of the week.
In her workshops, Kirsty showed visitors how to creatively transform plastic bottles collected on a beach clean into dragonfly garden mobiles to hang in the garden. The mobiles cast beautiful shadows and importantly will provide a water source to support insects.
Dragonfly mobile created with recycled plastic
On Dragonfly Safaris, we explored the reserve looking for damselflies and dragonflies and talked about their life cycles, habitats, different species we find on the reserve, and why the reserve is important for these creatures. Along the summer meadow trail and Lochar water we identified plants, butterflies, and damselflies. Walking back by the Teal Pond, blue-tailed, azures, and common blue damselflies perched on vegetation which provided a great opportunity to look up close at their striking patterns and differences between species. Captivating both visitors and staff, dragonflies made the most of the hot weather and were very active over the pond, flying at impressive speeds.
On Thursday we welcomed Danièle Muir from the British Dragonfly Society who led a dragonfly training session for our staff and volunteers. This covered dragonfly ecology and identification and then we headed out onto the reserve to put our knowledge to the test. Banded demoiselle along the Lochar Water caused excitement amongst the team and over the Teal Pond four spotted chaser, emperor dragonfly, southern hawker, and black darter were sighted. To understand their life cycle more we did some pond dipping, investigating the features of dragonfly and damselfly larvae up close. Returning to the visitor centre, we were treated to a resting southern hawker along the Avenue (cover image).
Banded demoiselle on the Lochar Water
Damselfly larva
On Saturday, local experts from the British Dragonfly Society led a Dragonfly Hotspot Walk. Visitors were guided on a 2 hour walk through the Paddocks, along the summer meadow trail, and Lochar Water before heading back by the Teal Pond and Avenue. It was a hot sunny day with clear skies, perfect for spotting damselflies and dragonflies. Along the summer meadow trail, flying over the Whooper Pond, we were surprised and excited by a black-tailed skimmer – an unusual sight for WWT Caerlaverock.
Black-tailed skimmer
Although Dragonfly Week has wrapped up, the importance of understanding these creatures and the dragonfly fun doesn’t end there – WWT’s Dragonfly Festival is running until the 22nd September. Take part in pond-dipping, dragonfly themed challenges, self-guided safaris and enter our dragonfly photography competition to be in with the of winning a yearlong WWT membership and an opportunity to exhibit your photographs in our Visitor Centre.
To learn more about the British Dragonfly Society, including volunteering opportunities and how to help record dragonflies, click here.
Words and pictures by Saoirse Murphy-Collot
