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Tag Archives: Aeshna cyanea

Hawkers

16 Saturday Jul 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aeshna cyanea, British dragonflies, British hawkers, dragonfly, hawker, Southern hawker

The latest odonata species to fly on to my 2022 sightings list is the Southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea), a blue-and-green-coloured male patrolling the woodland rides at a local woodland last Sunday 10 July and, yesterday, a brown-and-green female perched on the bramble poking through a mesh fence bordering a local high school. These beautiful beasties fly from June to October and are often seen quite a distance from water, as mine were.

220716 southern hawkers (1)

Dragonflies fascinate me, especially their ‘flying mechanism’, that part of their thorax where the two pairs of wings are attached to their body. My Europe’s Dragonflies field guide describes how ‘Dragonfly wings are remarkably strong and light, but flexible, with a complex highly evolved structure. They are powered by strong muscles in the thorax, with neurons connected directly to the brain.’

220716 southern hawkers (2)

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Three Aeshnidae

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Aeshna cyanea, Aeshna mixta, Aeshnidae, Anax imperator, British dragonflies, dragonflies, dragonfly, Emperor dragonfly, Migrant hawker, Southern hawker

The Aeshnidae are one of the five families of dragonflies to be found in Britain, and the family is made up of twelve Emperors and Hawkers. In the past week I have been privileged to see three members of the family during my local walks.

170809 Southern hawker
170809 Migrant hawker

The Southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (above left) is relatively common in Wales. In Aderyn, the national biodiversity recording database, there are 3312 records of Southern Hawker sightings and these are spread across 225 of the 275 10-kilometre grid squares that divide up Wales.

If the recorded numbers are anything to go by, the Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) (above right) is half as common as the Southern, with 1662 records in 143 grid squares, and its coverage across Wales is more spasmodic. This was only my second sighting of this slightly smaller Hawker but then I have only been living in Wales two years so my personal statistics aren’t really relevant.

170809 Emperor

This last creature is the most recorded of the Aeshnidae, with 4098 records in 221 of Wales’s grid squares, but, rather than reflecting how common it is, that may be because it’s one of the easiest dragonflies to identify because it’s the biggest. This is the Emperor (Anax imperator). I often get buzzed by these stunning creatures hawking over fields of wildflowers when I’m out walking – and they sound like a small helicopter approaching! – but I rarely get lucky enough to see them perched so I was particularly chuffed to get this photo.

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A Southern hawker

15 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Aeshna cyanea, dragonflies, dragonfly, Southern hawker

Although I’d seen a Southern hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea) once before, I hadn’t managed to get any good photos until I spotted this little beauty while on an outing to Lewes in East Sussex during last week’s holiday. Though the spot where she settled meant she was slightly obscured by vegetation, she very obligingly stayed put while I got several shots.

160815 Southern Hawker (1)

At around 70mm (2¾ inches) long, Southern hawkers are reasonably large creatures, and my research tells me they can be very inquisitive, sometimes flying right up to the people watching them to check them out. I’ve yet to see a male but imagine them to be rather handsome as they have vivid blue and green colouring with similar dark patterning to the female.

160815 Southern Hawker (3)
160815 Southern Hawker (2)

Neither of the Southern hawkers I’ve seen was near water and this is quite common, apparently. Though they need well-vegetated ponds in which to lay their eggs, they can often be seen hawking for food along tree-lined paths and woodland rides. These dragonflies are common in southern parts of England and Wales, hence the name Southern hawker.

160815 Southern Hawker (4)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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