Three summers ago something amazing happened along the Thames coastal marshes when the presence of a small number of a very rare dragonfly were discovered. Up until then there had only been two records of Southern Migrant Hawker in the UK and here they were breeding on the south Essex Marshes at Benfleet Downs. Since then they have been seen at our nearby reserves on both sides of the Thames and this year have appeared at Cliffe, West Canvey and Vange with others at the ECC Wat Tyler Country Park thanks to the keen eyes of Neil Phillips.
We have been on the look out at Rainham and yesterday Jerry Hoare became the finder of our first confirmed record as it cruised around the Dragonfly Pool by the Butts.
Southern Migrant Hawker is not a very good name as we have both Migrant and Southern Hawkers here and confusion with names is frequent. So, we prefer the much more apt name of Blue-eyed Hawker and here it is in all its glory.
5-9-12
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer
So sorry Neil! Tried to paint you in glory and mucked up your name! Only saw this today!
Howard would have had the pictures yesterday, too, but I had a technical hitch with my e-mail client.
My wildlife sounds and images at http://www.jerryhoare.net
Jerry posted the excellent photos last night, its good to see they are even closer to home! No sign for a week at Wat Tyler CP. Who's Mark Phillips btw? ;)
UK Wildlife