The Norfolk Hawker

This was perhaps my favourite find on my recent trip to East Anglia.  The Norfolk Hawker was previously confined to Norfolk  (in this country) but is also known as the Green-eyed Hawker (Aeshna isosceles).  Unlike most male hawkers the patrolling Norfolk Hawkers stop frequently making photography a bit easier.

Because the weather was (very) warm they flew into the evening, providing the possibility of this type of shot.

In between posing they were continually on the move so flight shots were more challenging.

I had only one brief sighting of a female ovipositing.

The recent story of the Norfolk Hawker is amazing.  In my 1977 edition of Cyril Hammond's The Dragonflies of Great Britain and Ireland the post 1960 distribution was restricted to only five 10km squares in the Norfolk Broads (solid circles).

By the 1983 second edition that had increased to six 10km squares but it was described as "under threat from drainage schemes and from pollution by nitrogenous fertilisers".

Since then the Norfolk Hawker has undergone a dramatic range expansion.  In my 2014 third edition of Smallshire & Swash's Britain's Dragonflies this was the distribution map.

In the latest 2025 fifth edition this is the map.

And here is the latest (July 2026) distribution map from iRecord which includes a record from an undisclosed site in north Northumberland in 2025.

This is one of several species of dragonfly "benefitting" from climate change and probably from habitat improvement with the creation of more gravel pits and other well vegetated lakes and ponds.  Despite the recent changes it is still listed as endangered on the British Odonata Red List.  If the trend continues I may soon be able to see it locally in the North East.

East Anglian dragonflies

I booked a few days away in Wicken Fen last month, not knowing I would be in the epicentre of the red zone of the recent heatwave.  The temperature was over 30℃ every day, peaking at over 37℃, which might have been good for dragonflies but wasn't so good for me.  I was mainly out in the mornings and evenings but did manage to see some things I had never seen or never photographed before.

Wicken Fen is the National Trust's oldest nature reserve and is a haven for dragonflies.  The highlight perhaps were the Norfolk Hawkers which, unlike most other hawkers I have come across, were happy to pose for photos.  This is a male.

One species I had never seen before was Scarce Chaser, which certainly wasn't scarce there but doesn't get much farther north.  Here is a male.

And a mating pair, both looking a bit battered.

Similar in appearance but with clear wing bases and green eyes was this male Black-tailed Skimmer.

I saw several male Hairy Dragonflies but none would stop for a photo.  Then on the last morning I found female ovipositing.  Females are pretty shy so this was a good find and the first I have seen.  This is another species which doesn't get as far north as the North East. 

The Hairy Dragonfly was at the end of its flight period but also on the last morning I found a newly emerged female Southern Hawker, one we do see up here.

Also familiar were Emperor Dragonflies.

Because it isn't found in the North East I had hoped to see a Variable Damselfly, said to be common in Wicken Fen, but every blue damselfly I saw was either Common Blue or Azure.

Another one which doesn't get up here but which was common there was Red-Eyed Damselfly. Here a male.

And a mating pair.

Both at Wicken Fen and RSPB Lakenheath I found Banded Demoiselles.

Also photographed but not shown here were Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly and Common Darter.  Also seen but not photographed was Brown Hawker.

Sometimes it was even a bit too hot for the dragonflies.  They are said to go into the obelisk position, pointing at the sun like this female Ruddy Darter, to prevent overheating.  I had a wonderful few days down at Wicken Fen - ten or fifteen degrees cooler and it would have been perfect.

End of year favourites - Dragonflies

I don't take as many dragonfly and damselfly photos as I used to, mainly taking record shots for recording, but I am always on the lookout for something attractive or unusual.  The weather in 2025 was really good for dragonflies and locally and nationally it was a bumper year.

My first dragonfly of the year, and the first record in Gosforth Nature Reserve, was an immature male Broad-bodied Chaser.

Then my new meadow pond produced three Broad-bodied Chasers.  I watched them emerge and fly away but didn't see them again.  The pond has produced damselflies in the past couple of years but these were the first dragonflies.

Another early season species, and a first for me, was a male Hairy Dragonfly at RSPB Old Moor in Yorkshire.

A couple of species had a notably good year in my local Gosforth Nature Reserve.  Brown Hawker has only been recorded once before (in 2021), as far as I am aware, but this year we saw patrolling males and ovipositing females over several weeks so there is a good chance it will become established.

Black-tailed Skimmer also had only occasional previous records in the reserve but this summer there were many basking males and an ovipositing female (which I didn't see).  Again there are high hopes this may become a regular resident species.

I have the privilege of counting dragonflies on the Hepple Estate in Northumberland.  It is a reliable place to see Golden-ringed Dragonflies, males easier to photograph than females.

I also see male Emperor Dragonflies there but this was the first time I have managed a decent photo.

Finally back to Gosforth Nature Reserve where I saw my first Willow Emerald Damselfly in September.  It is the most northerly site for this species which first arrived in East Anglia less than 20 years ago.

Dragonflies and damselflies are responding rapidly to climate change so we are likely to see more species arriving and becoming established in the North East in coming years.

Summer dragonflies

I don't take as many dragonfly photos these days, mainly because I already have good photos of the species I see regularly.  I do still take record shots to convince the county recorder when I submit records and I take a few if they would make an appealing picture.  2025 has been a good year for many insects, including dragonflies, and locally we have seen good numbers of previously rare species.  Here are some of my recent pictures.

Broad-bodied Chaser.  This was the first dragonfly I saw this year and features on the front cover of the latest edition of The NHSN Magazine.

Ruddy Darter.  This is an immature male and is fairly rare in Gosforth Nature Reserve (GNR).  I like the way the wings were in focus as well.

Emperor Dragonfly, the first time I have had a reasonable photo of one on the Hepple Estate but it was a bit too close to the background to be good.  This is a male.

Brown Hawker.  We had only one previous record of a male in GNR but there was lots of activity this year.  This is a male on patrol.

And a female ovipositing.  Females were observed on several occasion over six weeks so with luck we'll end up with a breeding population in the reserve.

Another species with only a single previous record in the reserve, a Black-tailed Skimmer.  This time we had multiple males and at least one ovipositing female.  This is a male.

A male Common Hawker, also from GNR.

And mating Common Hawkers from Cragside.

A male Golden-ringed Dragonfly from Hepple.

A female Black Darter, also from Hepple.

A male Small Red-eyed Damselfly in GNR.  This species first moved north of the River Tyne last year and our reserve has the most northerly UK record.

Finally another damselfly from GNR and a new species for me.  This is a male Willow Emerald Damselfly.  The reserve has the most northerly UK record for this one as well.

The dragonfly season will soon be over.  Let's hope next year is as good as this has been.

Beautiful and Hairy

The dragonfly season is well underway.  The first I saw this year was an immature male Broad-bodied Chaser in Gosforth Nature Reserve on 9th May, also the first sighting of a dragonfly in Northumberland this year.

A few days later I saw three Broad-bodied Chasers emerge from my pond but so far they haven't returned (while I was watching) and no more have appeared.  My next dragonflies were two male Four-spotted Chasers on 19th May, again in Gosforth Nature Reserve.  They were already patrolling and chasing so they must have emerged a few days earlier, unnoticed.

At the weekend I was down in Northamptonshire and saw lots of Beautiful Demoiselles, a species that is not recorded in the North East, although it does occur in Cumbria and on the west coast of Scotland.  This is a mature male.

And an immature male with brown eyes and brown wings.

This is a female.

I also saw one male Banded Demoiselle, a species that we do see up here.

On the way home I called in at RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley and had my first good sighting of Hairy Dragonflies, two males and a fleeting glimpse of an ovipositing female.  This one is also unknown in the North East.  Eventually one of the males landed for long enough for me to take a few photos, even though it was a fair way off and the photo is heavily cropped.  It doesn't look hairy in the photo but closer up the body is a bit furry, an adaptation to cooler weather in its early flight season.   Otherwise it looks a bit smaller and darker than the hawkers we see later in the summer.

This is just the start, with plenty to look forward to as the season progresses.  Let's hope it is a good one.