Return to moorhen home page
Return to section index
Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 32
Image Taken on 21 Aug 2018
at 17:31 Image of day on 11 Oct 2018
This male Southern Hawker Dragonfly went to perch deep in a Blackberry
bush/hedge where we catch the beauty in dappled sunlight.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20181011_df3_20180821_1731_051 southern hawker dragonfly male perched inside blackberry bush (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Sep 2018
at 15:35 Image of day on 06 Nov 2018
This male Southern Hawker Dragonfly is sunning himself on a stem of great Willow
Herb. This is 2 different views of the same individual.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20181106_df3_20180915_1535_024+1536_038 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on great willow herb stem 1+2 of 2 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2024
at 12:55 Image of day on 10 Oct 2024
The first male Southern Hawker sighting this year 23 Aug 2024.
Here he is hanging from leaves of the Lodgepole Pine trees facing south.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20241010_d72_20240823_1255_182 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on lodgepole pine leaves (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 13 Aug 2017
at 09:28 Image of day on 30 Sep 2017
Our first confirmed sighting this year of a Southern Hawker Dragonfly was this
male flying overhead and landing in this venerable Pear tree a few metres away.
Inspecting the image on screen we note that the 7th segment (4th 'blobs' up from
the bottom) is bi-coloured sky blue at the bottom and green at the top.
 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20170930_df3_20170813_0928_074 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on pear tree (segment 7 dual coloured spot) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2014
at 12:49 Image of day on 02 Nov 2014
This male Southern Hawker dragonfly landed on this leaf of a
Sweet chestnut (not that we get a crop - the Grey squirrels take
them all before they are ripe) and was unusually tolerant of us
moving around him. He looks absolutely pristine and likely
emerged from the nearby Duck-shaped pond.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20141102_df2_20140823_1249_409 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on tip of sweet chestnut leaf (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2014
at 12:51 Image of day on 02 Nov 2014
This male Southern Hawker dragonfly landed on this leaf of a
Sweet chestnut and was unusually tolerant of us moving around
him. He looks absolutely pristine and likely emerged from the
nearby Duck-shaped pond.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20141102_df2_20140823_1251_433 southern hawker dragonfly male perched on tip of sweet chestnut leaf (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Aug 2013
at 09:56 Image of day on 25 Oct 2013
We heard the rustling of this male Southern Hawker Dragonfly
apparently trapped in a tangle of grass. Untangling him revealed
that he was hooked by his left forewing on a dead blackberry
thorn (the brown stem middle left to bottom right).
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20131025_df1_20130827_0956_170 southern hawker dragonfly male rescue from being hooked on blackberry thorn 1 of 2 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Aug 2013
at 09:56 Image of day on 25 Oct 2013
After being freed the Dragonfly sat for a moment on the hand. You
can see that both left wings got bashed about in the struggle,
but real damage was minimal (the thorn simply pierced a single
tiny cell) and he flew off perfectly a few seconds after this pic.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20131025_df1_20130827_0956_173 southern hawker dragonfly male rescue from being hooked on blackberry thorn 2 of 2 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Aug 2015
at 10:58 Image of day on 11 Oct 2015
A Southern Hawker Dragonfly has at last made an appearance - as
usual over the main pond. At 7 fps we caught this moment as this
male was rising almost vertically.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20151011_df3_20150808_1058_360-362 southern hawker dragonfly male rising in flight @ 7fps 1-3 of 3 (adjusted montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Aug 2014
at 14:05 Image of day on 26 Oct 2014
Out in the sunshine this Southern Hawker seemed at the time to be
making a sharp turn in flight as appears here. But we were
surprised when building this montage that all 3 images overlaid
one another when aligned against the background. So it was in
fact turning in a hover - probably against the North-West breeze
that has been dominating the last few days. So we considered 3
separated frames but decided to show you what we
thought we saw!
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20141026_df2_20140815_1405_137-139 southern hawker dragonfly male turning in flight 1-3 of 4 (impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Oct 2009
at 15:14 Image of day on 12 Nov 2009
To our delight we still have Southern hawker Dragonflies on the
wing in mid October on sunny days even when chilly enough for
coats. This one was sunning itself in a stand of pine trees near
the pond. Both its right wing tips are a little the worse for
wear, but he appears otherwise immaculate.
.jpg)
Ref: 20091112_db1_20091010_1514_885 southern hawker dragonfly male with 2 wing tips torn a on branch of lodgepole pine(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Aug 2021
at 10:06 Image of day on 25 Sep 2021
Next morning this male Southern Hawker Dragonfly is hanging from a
dead twig in the hedge, warming in the sunshine to start the days hunting.
.jpg)
Ref: 20210925_df3_20210815_1006_003 southern hawker dragonfly male with right wings scraped(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Sep 2012
at 11:05 Image of day on 26 Oct 2012
Hawker dragonflies need to warm themselves in the sunshine to fly in lower
air temperatures. You have to see them land to spot them as they align themselves
with the stems
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121026_df1_20120918_1105_041 southern hawker dragonfly male with tatty wing perched on foliage (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Sep 2010
at 11:17 Image of day on 27 Oct 2010
Despite the poor weather the brief periods of sunshine brought out a few
dragonflies. They are getting a bit tatty now following encounters
with blackberry thorns etc., but worth a few outdoor images on-the-wing.
It is really only possible when they hover for a moment - here two
frames about 150mS apart as he drifted forward a little.
(r+mb id@891).jpg)
Ref: 20101027_dc1_20100901_1117_013+014 southern hawker dragonfly mature male hovering 1+2 of 2 (horizontally accurate montage @7fps)(r+mb id@891).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:14 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
We saw this pair of Southern Hawker dragonflies land in this
'Wheel' configuration in a willow behind duck pond and spend
63 minutes hanging on there being blown around in the wind before
finally parting in two stages.
The male is at the top using his tail clasper to hold the female
behind the head. She brings her vulva opening up to the male to
pick up the sperm.
They were very determined - the wind was blowing them about from
this position to almost horizontal.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1714_121 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 19 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:39 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
About 3 minutes before separating she has had enough and drops
into 'tandem'. Some species then go on to lay eggs in this
configuration, but not these.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1739_157 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 25 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Sep 2009
at 17:44 Image of day on 19 Oct 2009
The moment of separation probably and she flew off we know not
where. He flew off a few minutes later
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091019_db1_20090909_1744_179 southern hawker dragonfly pair mating in willow behind duck pond & parting after 1 hr 33 of 36 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jul 2008
at 16:26 Image of day on 06 Aug 2008
This is a Hawker dragonfly - the largest type. In the words of
an old TV documentary we saw a couple of weeks ago, it will kill
and eat 'anything smaller than itself'! Our experts differ on
whether this is a male or female.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080806_da1_20080722_1626_029 southern hawker dragonfly sex unsure (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jul 2008
at 16:24 Image of day on 06 Aug 2008
Here is the powerful mouth and segmented eyes.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080806_da1_20080722_1624_011 southern hawker dragonfly sex unsure (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Sep 2012
at 13:10 Image of day on 09 Nov 2012
The male Southern Hawker Dragonflies continue to patrol the pond
in search of females. Here one is taking a rest in the sunshine
on an otherwise cold day, hanging from the seed heads of one of
the types of Mallow.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121109_df1_20120929_1310_064 southern hawker male dragonfly hanging from mallow seed head (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Comments and requests for image use
To make a comment, ask for information or to request a full
resolution image, send us an email including the reference or
the date for the image you are interested in.
All initial contacts should be made using the icon below:-
