Migrant hawkers are in flight

04 Tuesday Aug 2026

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, British odonata, dragonfly, Migrant hawker, Odonata

It was 23 July and I’d taken the train to north Cardiff for a morning wandering around Forest Farm Nature Reserve. I was hoping for dragons along the Glamorgan Canal but thought I’d take a look around the orchard pond and fields before heading that way. There were quite a few blue-coloured damselflies around the pond, a female Emperor that was egg-laying amongst the vegetation, and a couple of Common darters – all nice to see but nothing to get the heart pumping, and a walk around the orchard and nearby field didn’t produce a single dragon. I decided to head for the canal but, as I was passing the old farm buildings (now used by Cardiff Park rangers and a couple of conservation organisations), I decided to detour along a path behind those buildings. And I’m so glad I did because I had only just turned on to this path when a large dragon flew up. I immediately froze and, fortunately, for me, it settled again on a nearby plant. My first Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) of the year!

Since that day I’ve seen at least ten more, though only one stopped long enough for a distant photo, only good for recording purposes. Last Saturday, five of these gorgeous dragons were flying together over a single back garden just a short walk from where I live – they can often be seen in groups like this, constantly flying back and forth. And later that same day I had another three patrolling a path along the edge of a Cardiff park – I watched for perhaps 15 minutes but none stopped flying and it was too hot to linger longer.

Hunting the Migrant hawker

23 Friday Aug 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, British odonata, Migrant hawker, Odonata

The first Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) I spotted this year, on 3 August, flew up into the tree tops almost immediately after I noticed it, and stayed there – I took some photos for recording purposes but they barely showed this dragonfly’s distinguishing features. So, when I spotted my next Migrant hawker, on 9 August, I spent 30 minutes watching and hoping for it to settle. This was all I got before it flew off, disappearing over a hedge, and I moved on.

240823 migrant hawker (1)

Then, finally, a week later, on the 16th, after another 30-minute session watching this beauty hawking back and forth along a tree line, expertly weaving in amongst the branches when it spotted potential prey, occasionally fighting with another of its kind hawking a little further along the ride, it perched very obligingly right in front of me and I managed slowly to approach for some reasonable photos. Dragonflies are amazing to watch, but it is also very satisfying to actually get good photographs of them.

240823 migrant hawker (2)

The last dragon

21 Monday Aug 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, British odonata, dragonfly, Migrant hawker

Though I’m still hoping to spot another damselfly species, the Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) is probably the last of the larger dragonfly species I’ll see this year. I’ve spent many an enjoyable minute or ten watching these beauties flying back and forth along the edges of woodland rides and local pathways, waiting hopefully for them to perch, only to have them fly above the trees and disappear, or stop in a place too distant for photographs. So, I was especially grateful when this hawker proved to be much more cooperative.

230821 migrant hawker

A hawking migrant

03 Wednesday Aug 2022

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, dragonfly, Hawker dragonfly, Migrant hawker

The latest dragonfly species for 2022 to blip on my inexpert odonata radar is this Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) that was lurking amongst the brambles along a local footpath. I disturbed it with my blundering and it flew off, hawking a few insects as it wove this way and that. Fortunately, after a couple of minutes, the hawker returned to its perch, and I was able to get a closer look and a few photos.

220803 migrant hawker

290/366 A host of hawkers

16 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, dragonfly, Migrant hawker

You might think, as I certainly did, that the much cooler overnight temperatures we’re now experiencing here in south Wales would mean an end to the hawking flights of dragonflies over our fields and along our hedgerows but I was rather dramatically proved wrong during yesterday’s meander around Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. I didn’t spot just one or two Migrant hawkers but seven (!), the most I’ve seen in one day ever. These are three of them, two of the males and the solitary female. A delight of dragonflies!

201015 migrant hawker (1) 201015 migrant hawker (2) 201015 migrant hawker (3)

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.

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.

Migrant hawker

02 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Aeshna mixta, British dragonflies, dragonflies, dragonfly, Migrant hawker

This is my very first Migrant Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna mixta) – isn’t she a beauty?

170802 Migrant hawker

Before the 1940s, these dragonflies visited Britain but didn’t breed here – hence the name ‘Migrant’ – but they have since become established and are gradually increasing their range northwards. They’re described as small to medium size dragonflies but, at around 63mm long, I think they’re quite big, and this one was certainly quite prominent as she hawked for food along a hedgerow, the nearest standing water probably 500 metres away as the dragon flies. Migrant hawkers have a later flying season than many other dragon- and damselflies, usually ranging from August to October, so there’s plenty of time yet to spot one flying along a hedgerow or woodland edge near you. And I’ll be keeping an eye out for the male of the species.