With only a handful of recorded sightings in Northern Ireland, the presence of this elusive species highlights the importance of ongoing habitat restoration efforts.<\/p>\n
![\"It's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/26c859d2149777a86c66c5a0c31c76f0.jpeg\"\/)
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Photo Credit: iStock<\/p>\n
The volunteers, David Littlejohn and Ellen Sheridan, had paused for a short break from litter-picking when they noticed increased dragonfly activity.<\/p>\n
Taking a closer look, they were able to photograph and identify not only the black-tailed skimmer but also a female emperor dragonfly and a common darter, all hovering near the newly restored pond.<\/p>\n
The 47-acre reserve, managed by the Ulster Wildlife nonprofit, has recently added a new pond to better support local ecosystems and attract biodiversity.<\/p>\n
And with the first recorded appearance of the black-tailed skimmer dragonfly in Belfast, and only the second in all of County Antrim, the results are already showing.<\/p>\n
“It’s fantastic to see the nature reserve supporting such a variety of species,” Littlejohn said.<\/p>\n
The return of rare species is more than a win for nature; it’s a sign that smart environmental stewardship is working. Modern tools like trail cameras help scientists and local volunteers track progress, showing how restored habitats support both biodiversity and human life.<\/p>\n
These insights can inform land-use planning, improve air and water quality, and even reduce the risk of disease by keeping ecosystems in balance.<\/p>\n
As we face growing challenges to our food systems and public health, protecting nature becomes a powerful strategy<\/a> to aid the planet and its people, ensuring cleaner environments, stronger communities, and a more resilient future for generations to come.<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local volunteers made an exciting wildlife sighting at a nature reserve in west Belfast, Northern Ireland. As The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[39753,49,48,39748,39754,39750,4779,39751,39752,66,39749,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-60827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-black-tailed-skimmer","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-david-littlejohn","12":"tag-ellen-sheridan","13":"tag-emperor-dragonfly","14":"tag-nature","15":"tag-nature-reserve","16":"tag-rare-species","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-skimmer-dragonfly","19":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}