1. Epaulet Skimmer

Dragonflies seem to have decided to give our biodiversity a boost! New species have been appearing regularly over the past decade, and the reason why is not clear - we are not exactly wallowing in the habitat these insects depend on, namely freshwater. And yet just two months ago our newest species was logged: an Epaulet Skimmer, spotted and photographed at Ghadira nature reserve. The Epaulet Skimmer (M: Kahlan tal-Penz) is one of the blue, medium-sized dragonflies, and it is still early days to know if this was a one-off freak visit - the species is common in Africa - or whether it intends to stay here and be fruitful and multiply. Time will tell. Meanwhile, this sighting has brought the Maltese dragonfly list to 18 species. Not bad for a sun-baked rock! Copyright to Birdlife Malta.