The incredible world of New Forest dragonflies (From Bournemouth Echo)

The incredible world of New Forest dragonflies

9:00am Tuesday 18th May 2010 in

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WHERE can you see a southern hawker, an emperor, a large red or a beautiful demoiselle? The New Forest, that’s where.

They are dazzling dragonflies and damselflies, the glittering, glitzy, gorgeous, glamourpusses of the insect world found darting over rivers, ponds and bogs.

Now, thanks to Doug Overton, anyone can enjoy their shimmering beauty without risking wet feet simply by visiting |newforestdragonflies.com Doug, who lives in Bransgore with partner Laura Rogans, has a passion for the insects and began filming and photographing them in 2003.

Since then he has amassed a large collection of pictures and a lot of knowledge, though he does not aim to baffle with science.

The 39-year-old makes his living as a customer care consultant for the telecommunications industry and works in Poole. He admits: “You couldn’t get further away from nature.

“This is a passion. It’s come about through taking photographs and video over many years, and talking about it at dinner parties.”

It has taken him two years to set up the website, which was launched just over a fortnight ago.

Most of his photography has been done in the New Forest though he often takes his camera out to other locations in Dorset .

“The New Forest is arguably the best location in the whole of the country for dragonflies,” he said.

“Crockford Stream [beside the B3054 Lymington to Hatchet Pond road], that is a Mecca for dragonfly enthusiasts. It is one of the only places in the country where the southern damselfly is found,” he said.

Other good places for dragonfly spotting are Brackley Pond and Burley Lawn in the New Forest; Delph Woods near Gravel Hill, Poole; the Avon Causeway near Sopley and St Catherine’s Hill and Ramsdown near Christchurch.

This year he intends to explore areas in the north of the New Forest in his quest for more photographs.