Migrant Hawker

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Aeshna mixta, Mating Pair - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Migrant Hawker

On Saturday morning, for want of something better to do, I wandered down to College Lake Reserve to pass a couple of hours. The weather was cool and breezy but there were still a Common Blues and the odd Small White on the wing. There were also a few dragonflies out and about including Ruddy and Common Darters basking in the weak sun and this inquisitive Migrant Darter Aeshna mixta aggressively patrolling its territory. Migrant Hawkers are great hoverer's and this male often came close as he gave me the once over, giving me a chance to grab some flight shots. I haven't quite nailed them but they are easily the best I've managed after years of trying!

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta, Male - College Lake, Buckinghamshire, 22/09/2012

Common Darter

I found these two obliging Common Darters Sympetrum striolatum basking on canes in the late summer sunshine at Whitecross Woods in Oxfordshire. I drove out to Whitecross in the hope of photographing an elusive Brown Hairstreak, but finding none spent an enjoyable couple of hours chasing Dragonflies instead! Common Hawkers love to sun themselves on twigs or warm surfaces such as paths and can be quite approachable and easy to photograph.

Male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Female Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - Whitecross Woods, Oxon, 11/08/2012

Late Butterflies and Dragonflies

The butterfly and dragonfly season just seems to go and on. On Sunday morning with the weather unseasonably warm, and we decided to take a long walk in the Chilterns, the plan being to end up at one of our favourite pubs. It felt more like a spring day and I was not surprised to see a few Red Admirals, a couple of Peacocks and a Brimstone out enjoying the mellow sun. Red Admirals are immigrants from Southern Europe and North Africa but there is now evidence that they are successfully overwintering in Britain. I recently saw a photograph of a Red Admiral resting on a snowdrop, taken in January! I was much more surprised to see a male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum out and about. The flight period for this familiar little dragonfly is from late June to late October, making this a very late individual. Only a few days ago I came across a Migrant Hawker patrolling a pond in a garden I was working in - another late dragonfly. 

A Red Admiral was out in the late afternoon sun today, probably my latest ever butterfly record and possibly not my last sighting of the year as there are few more mild days to come. It certainly makes the Winter seem shorter!

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - male

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - female

Migrant Hawker

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta is now a familiar sight at ponds, gravel pits and reservoirs in the southern half of England but up until the 1940's was only seen as a scarce migrant, hence the name. A small population established in the south east and spread rapidly north and west and now the large resident population is regularly boosted by big influxes from the Continent. This attractive medium sized Hawker is on the wing from late August until well into October and can often be seen in large numbers flying at tree top height in woodlands and parks and often visits garden ponds along with the larger Southern Hawker. Migrant Hawkers are slightly smaller than the other Hawkers and to me appear neater, flying with the abdomen conspicuously tilted upwards. They seem very inquisitive often flying quite close to investigate, hovering motionless for a few seconds before darting away.

I spent over two hours in the hot late afternoon sunshine at College Lake Nature Reserve last Friday photographing these colourful dragonflies with some success as they were frequently perching up on reeds, the leaves of Yellow Flag Iris pseudscorus and Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria which grow profusely at the waters edge. The picture below shows the diagnostic 'golf tee' marking on abdominal segment two, and the blue band at it's base.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta on Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (03/09/2010)

Its always a challenge photographing Dragonflies, but because Migrant Hawkers frequently hover, one of my aims was to try and take some flight shots, but frustratingly all my efforts came to nothing with the results either slightly out of focus or much too distant. So I have had a rummage in the archives for some slightly more successful pictures, taken at the same small pool at College Lake back in September 2008.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)