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Dragonflies

RIBBLE VALLEY WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY!

September 6, 2025

*Willow Emerald Damselfly | Chalcolestes viridis (male), Barrow Lower Lodge, Clitheroe 6 September 2025 (Mike Watson)*

SUCCESS! A WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY IN THE RIBBLE VALLEY. I have spent a lot of time this summer looking for Willow Emerald Damselfy (or Western Willow Spreadwing) | Chalcolestes viridis locally. Like facing a tsunami as their colonisation of the UK moves ever northwards, it was just a matter of time until they reached the Clitheroe area but it was still an exciting moment to find one today at Barrow Lower Lodge, one of my local dragonfly hotspots. After Allen Holmes showed me where to look for them in Burnley, it wasn’t such a big surprise that one was perched in the half dead Ash tree, overhanging the lodge (the local name for a pond or lake) in which I have been checking for it in recent weeks. The zigzag pattern on the thorax is there, as well as the very pale pterostigma. No doubt Willow Emerald Damselfy will become a familiar sight in the Ribble Valley in the coming years but it was nice to see the first one. There were some other dragonflies still on the wing at Barrow Lower Lodge on a sunny morning today with the temperature just touching 20 degrees Celsius: Emperor Anax imperator, Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis, Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum, Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans, Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum and Small Red-eyed Damslefly Erythromma viridulum (15).

*Barrow Lower Lodge, Clitheroe, East Lancashire (Mike Watson)*

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MOORLAND HAWKER

September 1, 2025

COMMON HAWKER | Aeshna juncea is a dragonfly of acid bogs in forest and moorland in East Lancashire. It occurs in the Ribble Valley on Longridge and Grindleton Fells and widely in the Forest of Bowland to the north, however, I usually only see male Common Hawkers, endlessly patrolling forest rides or moorland pools looking for females. At the weekend I took another break from searching for Willow Emerald Damselfly Chalcolestes viridis down in the valley and headed to Gisburn Forest in the hope of finding a perched Common Hawker. This is something of a rare event, as they hardly ever seem to land. I managed a few flight shots low over shallow breeding pools on a large bog in the forest, and sat down to watch the abundant Black Darters Sympetrum danae egg-laying in tandem, when a large brown and yellow hawker with gilt-edged golden wings flew in and landed right in front of me. WOW! Female Common Hawker! It proceeded to lay eggs in the surface vegetation of the pool for around half an hour, when another joined it. Females lay eggs immediately after mating, which lasts for around a hour and usually takes place in trees. What a terrific looking creature it is, my dragonfly highlight of the year so far. I do prefer the alternative name ‘Moorland’ Hawker though, Common doesn’t really do it justice and in most places it is far from common. A perched male photo still eludes me. It’s nice to have a project though.

*Common or Moorland Hawker | Aeshna juncea (male) Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

There were several other species flying today. It is getting a little late for some of them but there were still the following on the wing: Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum, Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella, Emerald Damselfly Lestes sponsa, Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum and Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea.

*Southern Hawker | Aeshna cyanea (male), Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Black Darter | Sympetrum danae, Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Black Darter | Sympetrum danae (male), Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Common Darter | Sympetrum striolatum, Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Emerald Damselfly | Lestes sponsa (male), Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Azure Damselfly | Coenagrion puella (male), Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Gisburn Forest 31 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

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WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY

August 26, 2025

THEY’RE HERE! The colonisation of the UK by Willow Emerald Damselfly | Chalcolestes virids has been just as spectacular as that of Small Red-eyed Damselfly | Erythromma viridulum as they race each other towards Scotland. Willow Emerald now has a foothold in East Lancashire. The first were found by Jen Coates at Lower Towneley Pool in Burnley in 2023 but there were no sightings the following year. However, she did see at least six on 24 August this year at the same spot, which suggests they did breed after all. In the meantime, Allen Holmes found it at another site in Burnley, at Heasandford Lodge.

I had become weary of searching for it without success around Clitheroe so I wanted to see what their habitat was like in Burnley, which might provide some clues to where to look in the Ribble Valley. Allen and I had a great day on his local patch, seeing Willow Emeralds at four sites. We had at least three but maybe as many as six at Heasandford Lodge, including 1-2 mating pairs. Then Allen spotted another at Rowley Lake, in an alder a few metres downstream from the weir. We followed this up with a visit to Lower Towneley Pool where we located one of Jen’s damselflies and then we found it at another new site, Towneley School Pond, in the willows by the pond. The following day John Wright spotted one at another site at Oswaldwhistle where evidence of breeding had been discovered. They have already been busy in East Lancs!

*Willow Emerald Damselfly | Chalcolestes viridis, Heasandford Lodge, 24 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

I learned from our sightings. Apart from at Towneley School Pond, they were all very conspicuous, perching on the outermost dead branches of trees. They only did this in sunshine. They were using these perches to hunt smaller flies, making upward sallies up from them in a Sympetrum style, often returning to the same perch. Those at Heasandford Lodge and Rowley Lake were in Alders not Willows and the one at Lower Towneley Pool was in an Ash (so no need to focus purely on willows!). At Heasandford and Rowley Lake they were over water (this is also important for their breeding cycle so their larvae fall into water not cold ground). When disturbed they seemed to go upwards in the trees not down (I have seen this before), the mating pairs also did this.

*Willow Emerald Damselfly | Chalcolestes viridis, Rowley Lake, 24 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Willow Emerald Damselfly | Chalcolestes viridis, Townley School Pond, 24 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Willow Emerald habitat at Heasandford Lodge, East Lancashire (Mike Watson)*

*Allen Holmes at Heasandford Lodge, 24 August 2025 (Mike Watson)*

*Towneley School Pond is very dry this year! (Mike Watson)*

*Emerald Damselfly | Lestes sponsa, Heasandford Lodge. At one point flying below the Willow Emeralds (Mike Watson)*

*Black Darter | Sympetrum danae, Heasandford Lodge. Rare to see one in the town, far away from moorland bogs! (Mike Watson)*

*Helophilus trivittatus, Towneley School Pond (Mike Watson)*

*Helophilus hybridus, Heasandford Lodge. A rare wetland hoverfly in East Lancs (Mike Watson)*

*Tachina fera, Rowley Lake - a parasitic fly (Mike Watson)*

*The attractive cranefly Tipula lateralis, Heasandford Lodge (Mike Watson)*

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f.helice!

August 17, 2025

f.helice! How could I possibly follow yesterday’s butterflies? This is how! The first Clouded Yellow near the junction was a white one of the form helice this morning. I had thought why not try and find a helice, as I saw one had been seen in the northeast yesterday? But almost immediately I heard from John Wright that Pete Kinsella had already seen one the day before on Longridge Fell, presumably after we left, so I was hoping it would still be around. I didn’t imagine it would be so easy to find though. Sadly it did not hang around, it disappeared into the plantation to the north at 0955 and was not seen again, despite much searching. There were still at least four other Clouded Yellows present today but there were generally fewer butterflies. However, it was impressive nevertheless with tens of Painted Ladies on the Longridge Riviera. Another fabulous local butterfly watching day!

The only species missing today was Small White. Joined by Phil Larkin and Lee Parnell, my old Ribchester pals, we saw some interesting other things, included a Small Copper probably of an aberration that we haven’t managed to pigeonhole yet as well as the Furry Peat Hoverfly | Sericomyia superbiens (briefly on the same knapweed). There was also a male Black Darter | Sympetrum danae of note, the first I have seen here. There were also a few Tree Pipits around today and other hoverflies included Common Batman Fly | Myathropa florea and Yellow-barred Pond Fly | Sericomyia silentis, two species I am familar with from Grindleton Fell, a few miles to the east.

*Clouded Yellow | Colias crocea - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas ab.? - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Comma | Polygonia c-album - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Southern Hawker (male) | Aeshna cyanea - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Black Darter | Sympetrum danae - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Furry Peat Hoverfly | Sericomyia superbiens - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Yellow-barred Pond Fly | Sericomyia silentis - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

*Common Batman Fly | Myathropa florea - Longridge Fell (Mike Watson)*

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BLOG

RIBBLE VALLEY WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY!

MOORLAND HAWKER

WILLOW EMERALD DAMSELFLY

f.helice!