About the event

This training course, occurring over two days (2nd Mar & 23rd Mar), run by local expert Jon Van Gowler with support from Fred Giles from RoAM (Records of Avalon Marshes)

It is aimed at any volunteers or community group members from across the county who want to get to grips with identifying, recording and surveying dragonflies and damselflies in their own green and blue spaces. No prior knowledge is required.

The course will run over two sessions:

Sunday 2^nd March (10am to 4.00pm)

AND Sunday 23^rd March (10am to 4.00pm)

By booking a space you are registering to attend BOTH sessions.

It will include:

1. Introduction to Damselflies and Dragonflies - their life cycle and behaviour

2. Identification of Dragonflies & Dragonflies (inc. confusion of species)

3. Methods for surveying and recording species

The sessions will be largely based indoors, but we may venture outside too at times to adjacent green/blue spaces.

The goal of this training will be for different community groups or individuals to be better equipped to competently survey and record dragonflies and damselflies in their own patches as we enter Spring and Summer. This will in turn improve our baseline data on these crucial species across Somerset and help better monitor their distribution and abundance.

The sessions are free thanks to the Somerset’s Wilder Coast project which is funded by the Hinkley C Community Fund and the Lottery Climate Action Fund with all money going to support RoAM (Recorders of the Avalon Marshes).