That ancient dragonfly

Last Thursday after spending several hours getting our Ardingly road verge ready for its annual sowing of wildflowers for the pollinators, Steve and I returned home to find a flurry of activity around our little pond. The pond was created in the spring of 2011 and quickly filled with pond critters. It has, without a shred of doubt, been the one addition to our plot which has attracted the most new wildlife to the garden. It has been a joy to see the frogs spawn and the newts develop, the pond skaters breed and great diving beetles...well, dive!

However, having seen damselflies and chasers make use of our pond in previous years, our recent sightings were well and truly extraordinaire. Now Steve and I are reasonably well tuned into the magic of nature, but this was quite wonderful. We must have witnessed the 'birth' of over 40 adult chasers during the next two days! I even sent for BB to run home from the school playground to come and witness the hatching!

We realised that the Libellula depressa, Broad-bodied Chaser, nymphs we had previously seen in the pond trying to catch the little tadpoles were numerous, but to see them all emerging almost at once was quite something; flying off on shiny and beautifully glossy wings.

These marvelous dragons are ancient creatures, being around when the dinosaurs lived 300 million years ago. This dragonfly is an opportunistic predator during all life stages, it mates on the wing, and the female lays her eggs often in newish ponds.

So if you haven't already got a pond in your garden, you could be missing out on a whole section of our very fascinating wildlife. You don't need a vast garden, as we have demonstrated a small pond can bring much pleasure.

For more information on dragon and damselflies, visit the British Dragonfly Society's website!