Dragonfly status for Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's Newchurch Moors

Located in the Eastern Yar Valley and owned by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Newchurch Moors has been listed by the British Dragonfly Society (BDS).

Priority sites support rare and threatened wildlife, as well as areas with a high diversity of species and the breeding population has won Newchurch Moors its status.

Scarce chaser dragonflies, which are typically found in habitats with good water quality and lots of vegetation around water bodies such as ponds or slow-flowing rivers, are considered to be ‘near threatened’.

Spotted flying from late April to early August, males have a powder blue body, while females are yellow.

The British Dragonfly Society (BDS) describes them as 'medium sized'.

It says males have a blue and black body and blue eyes, while females are ochre, with black markings down the middle of the abdomen.

They look similar to some other species of dragonfly, particularly skimmers.

• Seen one on the Newchurch site? The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust wants to see your photos! Upload photos and sightings to the iRecord app, or website, for verification.

BDS county dragonfly recorder, Jim Baldwin said: "It is great news that the Isle of Wight has a Priority Site of National Importance.

"It is reassuring that this excellent site is protected and is the result of many hours of survey work."

Jamie Marsh, senior reserves manager for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: "This is fantastic news.

"The Trust has been working to improve the conditions for wildlife on site, including controlling water levels, which will lead to better habitats from dragonflies and damselflies.

"We manage 4km of riverbank and surrounding wetland habitat in the Easter Yar Valley and we hope our work there will benefit a range of wetland species."

Newchurch Moors nature reserve was bought by the Trust through a gift in the will of Gwendolen Bunce.