You’d think these cold mornings to be disappointing for the Dragonfly enthusiast, but while the insects are cold they are much more approachable. The thorax of a hawker dragonfly needs to be 27°C for flight, which they achieve by whirring the wings to warm the flight muscles in the first rays of sunshine. This means that cold mornings are a good time to go and look for them on suitable basking spots that get the morning sun. Interestingly, they can sense the warmth of the human observer, and if they have just enough go in them to fly, they will often land on your outstretched hand.
If you’re lucky enough to find a perched hawker such as this female Migrant Hawker, you can carefully place your finger between it’s legs and the vegetation and it will maneuver itself onto your hand, allowing up close and personal examination.
And if you have a banana handy, they do like a little nibble !