As I was about to leave the park this morning on my way to work I checked around an area of trees for Speckled Woods. Instead, I noticed a large dragonfly flying about and landing on a horse chestnut branch. I approached and searched for it. I had clearly seen where it had landed, but it took me a while to find it again. There! hanging from a leaf was a hawker. It rested, about 4 m high at an angle away from the sun, so it wasn't a great spot for photos, but after a while I managed this shot showing its features. As I checked the photo tonight thinking it's a bit early for Migrant Hawkers, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was an immature Southern Hawker, which I have never seen in the area. Southern Hawkers breed in small ponds or canals, and often in garden ponds. After the adult dragonflies emerge from their native ponds, they spend about month away from water while they mature. Then they will find ponds where to breed. They like to feed on woodland glades, often away from their breeding ponds.
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