Wednesday 17 September 2014

September Dragons.

Perhaps the species most likely to be encountered at this time of year are the Southern Hawker and the Migrant Hawker.Yesterday in  Walters Copse I came across this immature male Southern Hawker as it took time off hunting to rest up in the shade.
Not too far away at my local pond there was great activity among the male Migrant Hawkers as they busily patrolled over the reeds.The females were also to be seen ovipositing in the reeds around the pond.



Saturday 6 September 2014

Looking For The Right Spot.

My favourite dragonfly must be the female Southern Hawker with its chocolate brown and green colouring.
This morning I saw this female flying around my garden pond on the lookout for the right place to lay her eggs.Although I have had several female hawkers in the garden over the last few seasons I have only observed one ovipositing into some discarded water soldier at the side of the pond. My pond edges do not seem to be ideal for these hawkers as they  prefer to lay into rotting vegetation above the waterline.
Therefore I was very happy to see this one finally start to oviposit into the moss next to the pond.This area of moss has been created by the flap of  liner around the pond  overlapping the edges and being disguised under turf.As the excess water from the pond overflows the turf has been replaced by very moist moss.Good enough it would seem for our hawker.
The eggs would normally now remain where laid until the spring when they will hatch and hopefully the larvae will find their way into the pond.