European Atlantic mixed forests

Common Winter Damselfly (Sympecma fusca) was recorded on 2026-10-17 in Friche Josaphat, Schaerbeek, Belgium. This species is one of only two European damselflies that overwinter as adults, and October observations mark the start of the period when they move away from water to terrestrial refuge on dried plant stems before disappearing through winter.

Mottled Sedge (Glyphotaelius pellucidus) was recorded on 2026-10-18 in Wemmel, Belgium. Caddisflies are pollution-sensitive water quality indicators; their presence suggests well-oxygenated, clean freshwater with no major organic loading upstream.

Migrant Hawker dragonflies were recorded 2026-10-17 in Auderghem with five sightings, showing active emergence through mid-October. This late-season flight activity extends beyond the early October peak, indicating stable breeding habitat conditions in urban ponds and wetlands.

Common Hedgehog was recorded 2026-10-26 in Ganshoren, Brussels, continuing presence in suburban gardens. This threatened native species relies on urban refugia, as wild habitat loss and road mortality continue to drive population declines across Europe.

Eurasian Beaver was recorded 2026-10-26 in Meise, Belgium, continuing northwestward expansion. The species began reintroduction from 20 individuals in the early 2000s and now maintains an estimated population of 600-1,000 in the region. Each new sighting marks successful habitat recovery and water quality suitable for beaver establishment.

A Shimofuri Goby was recorded on 2026-09-23 in Mechelen, Belgium. This Asian fish species first appeared in Europe in the Ghent-Terneuzen shipping canal in 2022 and has since rapidly expanded across Flanders, establishing a self-sustaining population. It poses a predation and competition threat to native benthic fish and their food resources.

Western Willow Spreadwings were recorded on 2026-10-04 in Vlaams Brabant, Belgium, continuing their October flight period. This metallic green damselfly typically returns to still and slow-flowing water during autumn to breed after spending the immature stage in terrestrial refugia away from water.

A Merlin was reported at Anderlecht - Koevijver on 2026-09-27. This small falcon is in active autumn migration from northern breeding grounds to southern Europe and Africa; the species peaks its migration through this region in late August and September, making the sighting consistent with regular passage.

Greater White-fronted Geese numbered 16 at Mechelen - Mechels Broek on 2026-10-05, with Graylag Geese at 6, Mallards at 8, and Tufted Ducks at 13. Waterfowl concentrations here reflect peak autumn passage as northern-breeding populations move toward winter grounds along the Atlantic coast.

A Yellow-legged Hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) was photographed on Henri Schoofslaan in Auderghem on September 8, a few streets from the edge of the Forêt de Soignes. It's the invasive Asian hornet known for preying on honeybees, and iNaturalist records show it turning up repeatedly across the wider Brussels region this year: well over a hundred sightings logged in the past twelve months alone, spanning communes from Auderghem, Ixelles and Watermael-Boitsfort to Tervuren, Wemmel and Leuven. That pattern of records doesn't establish population size or trend — sightings track observer effort as much as anything — but it does show the species is being found widely and repeatedly around the forest, not just this once. Telling it from the native European Hornet takes one look at the color. The European Hornet is a big yellow wasp with black bars and a reddish-brown head and thorax. The Yellow-legged Hornet is the reverse: velvet black or dark brown, each abdominal segment edged with a thin yellow line, a single broad orange band toward the tail, an orange face, and legs that end in bright yellow as if dipped in paint. It usually runs a little smaller. The yellow feet are the mark most people catch first. September is when its colonies are as large as they will get. A nest at this point holds a few thousand individuals, and the workers are provisioning larvae at full tilt. This is the month for the behavior beekeepers dread: workers hang in the air in front of a hive entrance, pick off single bees returning heavy with pollen, then cut away head, wings and legs and carry the thorax home. Honeybees are not the whole diet, though. Nests studied in southwest France took honeybees for about 38 percent of their prey, flies for about 30 percent and other social wasps for about 20 percent, with more than 150 prey species in all. Colonies near forest leaned harder on native wasps; colonies in town leaned on honeybees. A single nest can take roughly eleven kilograms of insects in a season, which is why the concern extends to native pollinators and not just to hives. The nest itself is usually invisible right now. A queen starts small in spring, low in a shrub or under a roof edge, and by summer the colony shifts to a large paper nest high in a tree canopy. In beech and oak stands like the Soignes those only show once the leaves drop in October and November, by which point the colony is already producing next year's queens. Workers and the old queen die with the cold. Only the mated young queens overwinter, each one capable of founding a new nest in spring. Brussels handles this through Bruxelles Environnement, which trains a referent in each commune to take sighting and nest reports. A hornet hovering at a hive, or a large grey nest appearing in a bare canopy this fall, is what to report.