A beautiful visitor
This beautiful Willow Emerald damselfly was photo-graphed for the first time at Gadespring in mid-August by Trust volunteer Dave Finlayson. The males can be very obliging for photographers as they can perch for long periods in full sight, but it takes patience to get an image this clear. This species, which is noted for its white wing tip spots and angled wings, has a remarkable story. It is dominant in parts of Europe but started to colonise our southeast coastal areas for the first time in 2009.
The female lays eggs (oviposits) under the bark of 1 cm thick willow branches just above the water. The eggs grow over the winter, and the first nymph instar breaks out and drops into to the water in the spring. If branches show lots of equal sized pimples this may be evidence of their presence.
Whilst most damselfly and dragonfly nymphs take 1 to 5 years to mature to adulthood and are exciting to see for those who attend pond dipping sessions, this damselfly can be flying a few weeks after the egg hatches. This speed, along with a succession of mild winters, has allowed them to spread quickly away from the coast. The first one recorded in Herts was in 2015. 10 years later it has found its way to Gadespring and it is already being identified inland right across the southeast and up to Yorkshire. Sometimes new arrivals from the continent are harbingers of a warming climate or are not welcome, such as the Box Moth or Asian Hornet, but this beautiful damselfly, which likes good quality water, is surely a welcome arrival to our ponds and lakes.
Don’t forget to register to vote!
The Box Moor Trust is governed by a Board of up to 12 Trustees. In accordance with our constitution, the Trust will hold a Trustee Election in October this year. The election will be held over the course of eight days, beginning at 8am on Wednesday 8th October 2025 and ending at 8pm on Wednesday 15th October 2025. Details of all candidates will be shared with the electorate prior to voting. Voting will take place online and at a polling station (at Box Moor Trust Centre).
To be eligible to vote, you must live within the Trust’s Area of Benefit (most of Bovingdon and Hemel Hempstead) and be registered on the electoral roll as held by Dacorum Borough Council. In order to vote online, you will need to pre-register on the Box Moor Trust website at: www.boxmoortrust.org.uk/trustee-elections-2025- register-to-vote/ Registration will be open until 1st October 2025.
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