Cornish Nature

Welcome to my gallery of dragonflies occuring in Spain & Portugal.

Each photo will have captions giving information on where & when each species was photographed. 

Remember to check back with us from time to time as new photographs will be added to this gallery as they become available.

Desert Darter – Sympetrum sinaiticum

This relatively small dragonfly is comparatively scarce in Spain, but in recent years it has started to become more frequently encountered. This may be as a result of a greater awareness of the species or perhaps as a result of climate change. It is a species of arid regions and individuals are frequently found a long way from water. In this respect the species is unusual amongst the Iberian dragonfly fauna in that adults seem to delay reproductive behaviour for perhaps two months or so before returning to water to breed.

I am not a bird watcher by any means but there is something special about seeing large numbers of the emblematic Avocet at first hand.

To that end, on Saturday 15th November we crossed the border into England and headed for Starcross and the River Exe in Devon where we had booked to go on the 2.00pm sailing of the RSPB Avocet Cruise.

Welcome to my gallery of damselflies occuring in Spain & Portugal

Each photo will have captions giving information on where & when each species was photographed. 

Remember to check back with us from time to time as new photographs will be added to this gallery as they become available.

Dragonflies and damselflies are extremely beautiful insects which capture the very essence of summer as they perform their intricate aerobatics around the gleaming backdrop of rivers and pools on hot and sunny days. As such they are highly visible and important indicators of the health of our wetlands being top insect predators both as airborne adults & aquatic larvae.

As we head into the middle of November encounters with adult dragonflies in Cornwall will become a rare event. Indeed their smaller cousins the damselflies will have all disappeared at least a month ago.

New late dates added 7th December 2008