Part-time farmers' wildlife haven

Dragonflies are colonising a new wildlife haven at Naseby

A wildlife haven on a smallholding is attracting dozens of different species of "exotic" flying insects.

Part-time farmers at Naseby, Northants, created a habitat of water, trees, wildflowers and hedgerows helped by Rural Development Service funding.

A variety of dragonfly and damselfly species have now colonised the area.

The pesticide-free pasture is owned and managed by Sue Towers, her partner John Andrews and sister and brother-in-law Anne and Stephen Woodgate.

No pesticides used

Species that have been spotted include the Broad-bodied Chaser, Four Spotted Chaser, Emperor Dragonfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Black Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Common Darter Dragonfly.

They carried out the work of developing the pasture farm in their spare time as they all have full-time careers.

Farm secretary Ms Towers said: "The site is typical of the undulating Northamptonshire countryside with strong ridge and furrow markings and the fields are divided up hawthorn hedges of 19th Century enclosures."

No fertiliser or pesticides are applied to the pasture so the water is of a good enough quality to support a range of wildlife.