G3-guides organized a 5 day field trip, from June 29th to July 3rd, as a culmination of the 7th edition of the European Congress of Odonatology that took place in Sevilla (Spain). We mainly explored the Río Guadiaro water catchment, which is often considered to retain the last wild rivers from southern Spain, namely the Genal and Hozgarganta rivers. We also ventured near El Chorro for small permanent streams that rewarded us with up to four scarce and iconic European odonates (!). Besides, we visited various standing water bodies in order to add dragonflies to the list.
Onychogonphus cazuma… the dragonfly that we all want to see, of course. Photo: Agnieszka Tańczuk.
We enjoyed a nice list of species with 38 observed taxa, all the targets being covered. We can cheer on it since it is not so common to be so successfull / lucky. The group was quite numerous and offered a very good company. All in all, we had splendid time both in the field and at the village… with lasting memories, for sure. I must thank Marta Villasán, Julia Guerra, Geert de Knijf and Cécile Malige for their assistance during fieldwork ; a special acknowledgment to Mónica, Stefan and Silvia from Benarrabá. Of course, everyone brings its personal touch to the project and I want to reflect my appreciation to all participants.
In this post, I will only develop a few highlights. A full account of the trip, written by Julia, is planned to be published soon in the newsletter of the newly created Dragonfly Conservation in Europe. What an honour !
Day 1
Already a handful of dragonflies
We visited a small reservoir (< 5 hectares) located in the Cork Oak (Quercus suber) forest near Ronda. The water body keeps an even (more or less) level of water throughout the year with plenty of shallow water and sparse aquatic vegetation… Overall the locality is very good for dragonflies. The only drawback is the massive presence of Mosquito Fish (Gambusia affinis) that impresses me at each visit. It would be such a wonderful area without this invasive species.
The place is quite a classic visit for Green Hooktail (Paragomphus genei), but we missed it. Instead, we could observe a full array of the dragonflies present at freshwater wetlands in Southern Spain. With 16 species, the reservoir was one of the most rewarding localities during the trip. Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), Western Clubtail (Gomphus pulchellus) and Small Blue-tail (Ischnura pumilio) were of particular interest for their scarcity in Andalusia.
Day 2
A river that offers you everything !
We focused on Río Guadiaro on the second day… to give the opportunity to spot the scarce Mediterranean lotic species as soon as possible. The river maintains the highest water flow and depth in all the area, and it is possible to walk through in most places… In those conditions, discovering the odonatofauna is very pleasant. We visited three sections of the Guadiaro avoiding a middle stretch which was already totally dry (!). Regularly, a transversal dyke creates a deeper pool, which can be good for the most elusive and less abundant of all riverine species: the Splendid Cruiser (Macromia splendens). With such a name, you don’t need much to convince observers that spotting various individuals at the same time is a real feat. We visited my best place for the species, and I was nervous of course, but when we did it, I knew the whole trip would be a success.
Yet another unique dragonfly in the European fauna: Macromia splendens. Photo: Agnieszka Tańczuk.
We could see the full array of lotic species in good numbers: Orange-spotted Emerald (Oxygastra curtisii), Pronged Clubtail (Gomphus graslinii), Large Pincertail (Onychogomphus uncatus), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma), Ringed Cascader (Zygonyx torridus), Western Spectre (Boyeria irene), White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes), Copper Demoiselles (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis) as well as several individuals of Orange Featherleg (Platycnemis acutipennis). Plus two Trithemis, etc. Which species was the most appreciated? Ringed cascaders are something very special with their restricted distribution in Europe, a behaviour that make them so pleasant to look at, and their unique exuviae. Despite the heat, we could enjoy the river as long as we wanted !
Day 3
Breaking expectations
We had an early start for a very long day… We needed to drive 200 km, including the Serranía de Ronda’s mountain roads, in order to visit at least three localities… that are so small that you wonder how Odonata can thrive in those habitats.
Yellow-Veined Skimmer (Orthetrum niditinerve). Male.
First stop: an unimpressive stream with very shallow depth but permanent waters located in open agricultural landscape. This happens to be the best possible habitat for Yellow-Veined Skimmer (Orthetrum niditinerve) and the Mediterranean Bluet (Coenagrion caerulescens), two dragonflies which are becoming incredibly rare in southern Spain. More skimmers (O. brunneum, O. chrysostigma, O. coerulescensi) shared the habitat as well as the ringed cascader (Z. torridus), which we found in many places during this whole journey.
We hide from high temperatures under a small isolated bridge, protected by prefaricated concrete modules. What a cosy, and above all, fresh ambiance.
Cazuma Pincertail (Onychogonphus cazuma) male.
We then head to the next stop (dividing the team in two groups for the sake of security): a tiny seepage located along a road, below permanent water trickling down. We were successfull to found both male and female of Cazuma Pincertail (O. cazuma) in a locality that let our fellow odonatologists quite astonished with the habitat selection of our Mediterranean species. Common goldenring (C. boltonii) and a few other Orthetrum spec. also reproduce at the site.
Faded Pincertail (Onychogonphus costae) Mating pair.
We finally reach our final location at the Guadalhorce river bankside. Several individuals of Northern Banded Groundling (Brachythemis impartita) surprised us before we reach the best spot. Then, we had a festival of Faded Pincertail (Onychogomphus costae), in possibly the best location I know of for observing the species in Andalusia. The dragonfly was present in good numbers, especially for a gomphid, and a rare one! We were delighted to find that mating pairs seems so concentrated on their task that they do not fly away so swiftly and it eases much their photograhy. Very nice for our hord of avid dragonflies watchers / voyeurs.
Day 4
The infinite Strait
A visit to the Strait of Gibraltar was mandatory given our eclectic team of Europeans. We had a representation with Greek, Slovenian, Dutch, Swede and so on up to 15 nationalities… That was very cool.
First visit to a wetland, Laguna Huerta de las Pilas, near Algeciras. A few dragonflies, unseen so far, appeared conveniently, namely Black pennant (Selysiothemis nigra), Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii) and Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale). As expected, Dropwings Trithemis annulata were numerous.
The Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), a typical species of still waters in southern Europe (Photo: Julia Guerra Carrande).
Sadly, the visit to Río Hozgarganta in the afternoon only revealed that waterflow and water quality were bad, thus the river was not up to the expectation. This is one of our all-time favourite and such a degradation is really worrying. Various individuals of Erythromma viridulum were observed among Erythromma lindenii.
Day 5
The Genal and its downfall
Finally, we had to visit the River Genal before leaving the area in direction of Sevilla. We had great time in Benarrabá and packing lugage and actually leaving takes time. We were not in hurry. We reach Venta de San Juan, a typical holliday place, very crowded in summer. We already knew that we would encounter artifical pools build by a heavy machine. The species were according to the views… very little flying around. It was newly a very sad prospect to think that this spot was, only a few years ago, one of the very best place for Macromia, Graslini, Oxygastra in Europe… So what’s the Habitat Directive for? We obviously saw a few dragonflies, Orthetrum being the most tolerant to perturbations.
After a picnic and a friendly meeting, we had to move on, leave the Mediterranean dragonflies and prepare for our trip back home or next stops. This was a wonderfull trip and I am deeply thankfull to all participants. We hope to see you soon.
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