Hull Dragons: June summary

This month we've had mostly cool, breezy and unstable weather with plenty of rain, which perked up in the last few days, when it was very hot. Sunny days (better: spells!) were few, short and far between, not ideal for planning dragonfly surveys. Despite this, sightings have slowly built up and overall, eleven species have been recorded from 17 km2 in the city and surroundings. To the five species seen in May (Broad-bodied Chaser, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Red-eyed Damselfly) we have added six more: Banded Demoiselle, Four-spotted Chaser, Emperor Dragonfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Ruddy Darter and Emerald Damselfly. These are only including the records submitted to iRecord: I'm hoping to obtain the dragonfly records submitted to the BTO through their popular Birdtrack app, later in the year. So far there are 103 records submitted to iRecord.

Banded Demoiselle
A total of 5 Banded Demoiselle individuals (top, male just by Oak Road Lake) have been sighted from four km squares in the River Hull between Clough Rd and the northern boundary of the city. This species is becoming common upstream, between Tickton and High Eske, and has been a very nice unexpected addition to Hull Dragons. The only previous record of this species in the city boundary was of Noddle Hill in 2015, submitted by Jen Woollin.

Red-eyed Damselfly
The Red-eyed Damselfly has been recorded from three sites this year: Oak Road Lake, Noddle Hill and East Park. I believe the East Park is a new site for the species, although there is no evidence of breeding there as yet.

Black-tailed Skimmer
Thank you to Andrew Chadwick for submitting this record from his garden, the first recorded Black-tailed skimmer of the year for Hull Dragons.

Emerging Broad-bodied chasers
It was worth keeping a close eye on the Pearson Park wildlife Garden.

Freshly emerged Broad-bodied chaser, 23/6/2019, 9:47am.

In the wider area...
There has been an influx of Vagrant Emperors, Anax ephippiger on the east coast, with records at Spurn, Flamborough and Donna Nook, so well worth keeping our eyes open for what may come our way!