Late Summer on Pevensey Levels

 Pevensey Levels is a wonderful place for seeking out dragonflies, damselflies and other interesting species. The landscape is predominantly agricultural, mainly livestock pasture with some crops but is criss-crossed with plenty of water ditches and channels which are havens for wildlife.

In the last couple of decades, new species have migrated across the English Channel from the European mainland, to take advantage of our warming climate in south-east England.

I first came across a colony of the Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis) in 2018 and it is now a well established resident across the levels.

In more recent years, the Green-eyed Hawker (Aeshna isosceles) and Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) have become more numerous on the levels.

Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) (males)

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (males)

Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis)

(mating)

(tandem pair)

(male)

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (female)

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (mating)

Fen Raft Spider (Dolomedes plantarius) (female devouring prey)

Wall (Lasiommata megera) (female)