Find out how to tell your emperors from your hawkers and your skimmers from your darters. In this workshop, we will spend a day at Windmill Farm Nature Reserve learning the tricks and techniques of identifying the species of dragonfly and damselfly found in Cornwall.
Windmill Farm NR supports a network of many ponds and standing waterbodies, with almost every pond supporting a rare or important plant or invertebrate species. Windmill Farm NR is also recognised as a great site for dragon and damselflies, with 17 species being regularly recorded here. In 2023 it also produced a new record for the UK, a Vagrant Emperor, Anax ephippiger - the first record of an immature vagrant in the UK. During the search for the exuviae to confirm the Vagrant Emperor record, the exuviae of the Red-veined darter – Sympetrum fonscolombei (a rare breeder in the UK and a first exuviae for the reserve ) was also found, cementing this site as an excellent habitat for dragonflies which we believe requires regular monitoring
As well as developing our identification skills, we will be coached in effective, repeatable survey methods for producing good quality biological records that can be used to inform conservation efforts.
Leader: Steve Jones (County Recorder for Dragonflies and Damselflies)
