The Dragonfly Society is celebrating its 30th year.
Moors Valley Country Park and Forest is one of the best places in the country to see dragonflies and damselflies. 27 of the 50 species recorded in the UK have been seen at the park, it has a dragonfly as its logo, an impressive wooden dragonfly sculpture and uses ‘Deano the dragonfly’ as the main character in its ‘Nuts about Nature’ children’s programme.
Moors Valley celebrates its 25th anniversary on 20 July, which coincidentally is the start of National Dragonfly Week (20-28 July).
Specific dragonfly events at Moors Valley include:
Dragonfly Walk 2pm, 20 July
Macro photography exhibition, dragonflies by Clifton Beard, 27 July–1 September
‘Nuts About Nature’ – dragonfly-themed children’s events: 1, 6, 15 and 20 August.
To mark its 25th year, the Park is launching a ‘Dig for Deano’ campaign, encouraging people to build a wildlife pond to help native dragonflies suffering as a result of loss of wetland habitats.
Spending most of the year as nymphs in rivers and ponds, the dragonflies are a wonderful sight in summer as they come above water to mate and lay eggs.
All dragonflies need water to complete their life cycle and their numbers are suffering as a result of losses of wetland habitats. Over the past 100 years it has been estimated that one million ponds have been filled in. By digging a pond you can replace a habitat that has been lost.
Countryside Interpretation Ranger Katie Davies says, “We are asking people to help by digging a garden pond and creating their own dragonfly habitat. We’ve called the campaign ‘Dig for Deano’. Deano is an Emperor Dragonfly and in real life would typically spend two or more years in a pond before taking to the wing as a colourful, aerobatic insect, reaching speeds of up to 18 miles an hour.”
Moors Valley Rangers have brought together a host of helpful resources on their website including a step-by-step guide to putting in a pond, practical information from the British Dragonfly Society and lots of other essential details. www.moors-valley.co.uk/digfordeano
