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 ladybirds

On holiday last month I couldn't resist also looking for ladybirds.  Wicken Fen has a lot of grassy meadows as well as wetlands so that seemed a promising place to search.  16-spot Ladybird is a grassland species in the south and was one I was keen to find.  Unlike most ladybirds it feeds on pollen, nectar and fungi.

14-spot Ladybird is pretty widespread and is found in a variety of habitats.  This one is quite pale, probably newly emerged. 

We do find 24-spot Ladybirds in the North East but only in a few localised places.  In East Anglia I found them everywhere I looked and in large numbers.  This is another vegetarian, feeding on grass and red campion leaves.

This is a 24-spot Ladybird larva.

The 22-spot Ladybird is another vegetarian.  This one feeds on mildew on umbellifers but is found in grassland.

Rhyzobius litura is a microladybird and is sometimes known as Meadow Ladybird.

All these, plus 7-spot Ladybird and Harlequin Ladybird turned up in one session in one small patch of grassland.  A couple of days later I went to Cranwich Heath in West Norfolk which is sandy acid heath.  I was hoping to find an Ant-nest Ladybird but did find an Angle-spot Ladybird, Scymnus frontalis.  This is another microladybird, not found here in the North East.  There were lots of 16-spot and 24-spot Ladybirds as well.

There are plenty more I have yet to find, mostly microladybirds and monthly in the south.  I'll have to arrange another holiday to see if I can find some.

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.