Aerodome of the Dragon

Of all the UK airports, could Gatwick be the one with the highest diversity of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)? I imagine strong contenders might be London Ashford Airport (Lydd) in Kent, or even Heathrow Airport in Surrey... I am boldly throwing down the gauntlet to those who wish to challenge us for the dragon throne. If you are a naturalist who has been observing dragonflies on or near other airports, let us know in the comments of this blogpost!

Willow Emerald Damselfly Chalcolestes viridis

Facing a warming climate, many dragonfly and damselfly species are changing their geographic range, with new species moving further inland from warmer coastal areas and others arriving from the continent. So far, we have recorded 23 different species of around our land-locked, but low-lying and pretty wet airport. That is six fewer than the best-performing Sussex Wildlife Trust nature reserve Rye Harbour (29 species). The nearby Knepp Wildlands site hit 23 species in around 2019, but they have surely passed that total now.  

Bob Foreman from the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre kindly provided me with the top ten league table for Sussex Wildlife Trust reserves. As you can see, we might be on par with the Ebernoe reserve for the moment:

1. Rye Harbour                       29

2. Burton Mill Pond                25

3. Woods Mill                         25

4. Iping Common                    24

5. Old Lodge                           24

6. Ebernoe                               23

7. Amberley Wildbrooks          22

8. Peveensey Levels                19

9. Filsham Reedbed                19

10. Waltham Brooks                 17

This summer just past I was repeating a baseline survey of all the waterways previously surveyed around Gatwick during 2013. We have gained a few new ponds since that last baseline, so I was really looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing how fortunes may have changed for our dragons. Results were a bit of a mixed bag, with only 20 different species observed (I was missing Ruddy Darter Sympetrum sanguineum, Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii and Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas). The only new record for the site has been Small Red-eyed Damselfly, and nothing particularly rare or unusual turned up except for a tantalising glimpse of Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly Somatochlora metallica (although there were plenty of similar-looking Downy Emerald Dragonflies about).

Here are a few of my highlights from the 2022 field season:

Downy Emerald Dragonfly Cordulia aenea

White-legged Damselfly Platycnemis pennipes

Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata

Small Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma viridulum

Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum

Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa looking the worse for wear

Our Top 3 performing waterbodies during 2022:

The upstream section of the River Mole (16 species)

Land East Pond 2 (the Brilliant and Downy Emerald pond) 13 species

The northern bank of Pond F, the reservoir at the South Terminal (11 species)

Gatwick's current dragonfly list:

Here be dragons...

So a few people have asked me now where I am downloading my wildlife photos from... the cheek of it!

Close-up of a Downy Emerald dragonfly (Cordulia aenea), Horleyland Wood Pond

It is mostly down to this brilliantly simple digital camera, which my friend gave me after he upgraded to a fancy SLR one. It is awesome for close up stuff but for distance shots it is not so great, hence why my bird and mammal photos are lacking.

My simple Canon point 'n' shoot camera with good macro setting

This year we have really focused our efforts on recording those beautiful winged hunters: the dragonflies and damselflies. We are lucky to have such a variety of wetland habitats about the airport due to its operations and infrastructure; some are quite odd such as water treatment ponds and consistently marshy grasslands.

A few of Gatwick's wetland habitats:

Dog Kennel Pond (water run-off holding area), populated with sedges, Reed, Typha, and Watercress

Compost Field Scrape (caused by tractors churning up the field) with Typha, rushes, Stonewort, Floating Sweet-grass and Brooklime 

A backwater along the River Mole (artificially sculpted in the millennium)

 with Water-plantain, Arrowhead, Starwort and Bur-reeds

I'm pretty keen to set up more intensive aquatic invertebrate surveying next year of these wetland areas as they seem to contain quite an abundance of wildlife. Dragonflies and damselflies are voracious predators of other insects, so can act as good indicators of life and quality of these habitats.

A male Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella) munching on a chironomid midge, so intent on its breakfast that it didn't mind being picked up

In order to get a good scope of all the different species it pays to do several surveys spread throughout the season. Dragonfly expert David Chelmick was the man for the job, armed with his many-pocketed hunting jacket, keen eyes and a trusty dictaphone (avoiding the age-old problem of scattered pens and pencils in the field). David's avid descriptions of the secret lives of these creatures are of more violent and intriguing stuff than any TV drama (excepting maybe Game of Thrones, but those dragons were not half so colourful).

No need to journey all the way to Westeros; our section of the River Mole is full of dragons

Dragonflies:

An adult male Brown Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna grandis), Goat Meadow.

 I was shown how to carefully handle them by their wings

A recently emerged Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata), Compost Field. 

Their bodies and wings are delicate and easily damaged at this stage so best to avoid netting them

Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata), Compost Field

Male Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa), Dog Kennel Pond

Female Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa), River Mole

Downy Emerald dragonfly (Cordulia aenea), Horleyland Wood Pond

The exuvia (the outer skin) of a Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum), River Mole

Brown Hawker dragonfly exuvia (the purple bit is just a flower from Purple Loosestrife), River Mole

All dragonflies and damselflies begin their lives in the water as larvae; hunting and shedding their outer skins as they grow. Eventually they crawl out of the water and shed their skins one final time. Once a dragonfly has emerged and dried out, it opens out its wings and does not close them again over its back. The damselflies however tend to sit with their wings folded back...

Damselflies:

Male Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella), River Mole

Male White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes), River Mole

Female White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes), River Mole

A mating pair of Azure Blue damselflies (Coenagrion puella). The blue male grasps the female behind the head, she then bends her abdomen up to his genital opening to complete fertilisation. Impressive!

Male Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens), the dark wings patches are a deep iridescent blue. These guys have a lovely courting display for the green females. 

Finally, a list of all the Odonata species which we have recorded around the airport so far:

1. Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

2. Common Blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

3. Large Red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

4. Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
5. White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)
6. Red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas)

7. Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)
8. Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

9. Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum)

10. Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly (Libellula depressa)

11. Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)

12. Southern Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea)

13. Brown Hawker dragonfly  (Aeshna grandis)

14. Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator)

15. Downy Emerald dragonfly  (Cordulia aenea)

16. Brilliant Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora metallica)