My normal pathological avoidance of the school holidays throughout late July and August, coupled with the fact that we’ve tended to visit the southwest of France as opposed to the northeast, have reduced my chances of seeing the Moustached Darter/Vagrant Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum). Consequently, to the surprise of some friends on the Continent, where it can be quite prevalent, it was a species missing from my catalogue.
For a couple of years now, I have been e-friends with Antoine van der Heijden in the Netherlands, who is active both on the worldwide odonata Facebook group and in our own UK Facebook odonata group. With (hopefully) the worst of Covid-19 having passed, in the middle of 2022 our stars aligned and Antoine kindly offered to guide me around some of his favoured Netherlands hot spots during a mutually convenient week in August. The Moustached Darter/Vagrant Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum) was my main target but Antoine had mentioned a few other species that it would also be great to see.
I found what turned out to be an excellent adults only [that should fix my rugrats issue] self catering apartment at Jelly’s Hoeve, Havelte. Where possible, I prefer self-catering options. Jelly’s Hoeve proved to be perfect. [Hoeve is Dutch for farm.]
We travelled on Stena Line from Harwich to the Hook of Holland overnight on Sunday 7th August and returned overnight on Friday 12th. I’d arranged to meet Antoine on Tuesday 9th, once we had settled in. I have never been so lucky with the weather; our trip coincided with a week of unbroken clear skies and high temperatures; perfect weather for chasing dragonflies.
Antoine was a wonderful, congenial host and spared no effort fixing as many gaps as he could in my catalogue. Happily, with a shared interest and some shared outlooks on life, we enjoyed each others company.
Below is my map of the locations visited with species and basic notes. Among the 26 species we saw, Antoine found me 5 “lifers” (shown in bold type). The first 4 locations were Antoine’s tour; the 5th location was our opportunist visit to old friends en route home.
There are good reasons to return to the Netherlands earlier in the season for some additional species. 😉
Weerribben-Wieden NP, 9th Aug [#1]
The Weerribben-Wieden National Park is said to be the largest wetland in north-western Europe. It was created by the digging of peat and the cutting of reeds. Much of the area is not accessible on foot and without Antoine’s knowledge, I just wouldn’t have known where to start. The point on the map marks the parking area in the northern section of the park. From which we followed paths essentially north.
We had very soon hit my main target, the Moustached Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum). Most amazing, I think, were the clouds of Spotted Darters (Sympetrum depressiusculum) rising from the reeds. These I had seen before in southern France but not in such numbers. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any dragonfly in such numbers and I was very happy to see them again. Happy turned to excitement when “Hawk-eyes” van der Heijden found me a Siberian Winter Damselfly (Sympecma paedisca) lurking quietly low down in vegetation at the side of our path.
We spent the whole day here and totalled an astonishing 21 species.
- Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
- Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
- Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
- Erythromma najas (Large Redeye)
- Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
- Sympecma fusca (Common Winter Damsel)
- Sympecma paedisca (Siberian Winter Damsel)
- Aeshna cyanea (Blue Hawker)
- Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
- Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
- Aeshna viridis (Green Hawker)
- Anax imperator (Blue Emperor)
- Orhetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
- Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
- Libellula quadrimaculata (Four-spotted Chaser)
- Somatochlora flavomaculata (Yellow-spotted Emerald)
- Sympetrum danae (Black Darter)
- Sympetrum depressiusculum (Spotted Darter)
- Sympetrum sanguineum (Ruddy Darter)
- Sympetrum striolatum (Common Darter)
- Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)
Ruiner Aa, 10th Aug [#2]
In stark contrast to the imposing National Park of Weerribben-Wieden, this was a superficially unassuming strip of land between two waterways, one no more than a stream, surrounded by agricultural fields. We parked beside a bridge over the main waterway and spent about 4 hours walking along two sections bounded by further bridges. The main attraction here was one of my stretch goals, the utterly delightful Banded Darter (Sympetrum pedemontanum), which we saw in good numbers.
To my surprise in such a restricted area, we notched up 14 species here.
- Calopteryx splendens (Banded Demoiselle)
- Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
- Erythromma viridulum (Small Redeye)
- Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
- Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
- Platycnemis pennipes (Blue Featherleg)
- Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
- Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
- Anax imperator (Blue Emperor)
- Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
- Sympetrum depressiuscullum (Spotted Darter)
- Sympetrum pedemontanum (Banded Darter)
- Sympetrum sanguineum (Ruddy Darter)
- Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)
Fochteloërveen, 10th Aug [#3]
To quote the literature, “Fochteloërveen is a famous Dutch peat bog area on the border of the provinces Drenthe and Friesland”. Antoine took us here for the second half of the afternoon on 10th, once I dragged myself away from the Banded Darters.
There were a couple of attractions here not the least of which was the possibility of the unattractively named Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica), which I had never been anywhere near seeing. We did find it but it did not pose favourably. There were also Small Spreadwings (Lestes virens), which I had seen before but was more than happy to see again.
During our 2-hour visit, Antoine was rewarded for his efforts by seeing a dark form female Small Red Damsel (Ceriagrion tenellum) for only the 2nd time.
- Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
- Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
- Lestes virens vestalis (Small Spreadwing)
- Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
- Ceriagrion tenellum (Small Red Damsel)
- Aeshna cyanea (Blue Hawker)
- Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
- Aeshna subarctica (Bog Hawker)
- Libellula quadrimaculata (Four-spotted Chaser)
- Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
- Sympetrum danae (Black Darter)
Kiersche Wijde, 11th Aug [#4]
This was another, more southern section of the Weerribben-Wieden NP. On our first day we had seen the Green Hawkers (Aeshna viridis) but they had flown tirelessly and fast so I failed to get a decent picture. Antoine thought we might get another chance here where there were the necessary waterways containing Water Soldier plants.
It is worth noting that in the UK the Green-eyed hawker (Aeshna isoceles) is associated with Water Soldier whereas in Holland it is the Green Hawker that is tightly bound to Water Soldier.
Regrettably, on this day we saw neither. I did, however, have fun with an obliging Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) head-on.
- Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
- Erythromma viridulum (Small Redeye)
- Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
- Sympecma paedisca (Siberian Winter Damsel)
- Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
- Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
- Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
- Sympetrum depressiusculum (Spotted Darter)
- Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)
Fahrenheitlaan, Hilversum, 12th Aug [#5]
Our route back to the Hook of Holland and our overnight ferry took us past Hilversum where some friends, a former colleague of Carol, live. Visiting them was a relaxing way to use up a day otherwise set aside for travel. However, I did once again get to see my Moustached Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum), a female, in their garden.
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- Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
- Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
- Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)
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