Yesterday I took myself off on a little adventure, on an hour’s train journey from Cardiff to Maesteg, high up in the south Welsh valleys, a place I’d not been before. I decided to go after seeing a post on social media about some ponds in a Maesteg park that held dragonflies that thrive in acidic heathlands and bogs so these are not species I see in my coastal location.

Despite a favourable weather forecast, when I first arrived it was mostly overcast and there was a cool wind blowing – not ideal conditions for seeing dragonflies. Remaining hopeful, I thought I’d use the time until the clouds cleared to explore and try to find dragonflies that might be perched around the area.

Almost immediately I heard the tell-tale rustle of dragonfly wings and saw movement amongst the reeds in the nearest pond. Dragon! And not just any dragon – this was a female Common hawker (Aeshna juncea), and she was moving slowly around the ponds, stopping here and there to lay her eggs amongst the vegetation. She was my first ever Common hawker, so I was over the moon to have found her so quickly and easily.

Later, when the sun did come out and the dragonfly action got a bit frantic, I saw another large dragonfly cruising back and forth over the ponds. I think it was a male Common hawker but he wasn’t stopping for photos, and soon disappeared. Having enjoyed such excellent views of the female, I wasn’t too disappointed about missing him, and I saw several other dragon and damsel species, which I will feature in forthcoming blogs.