Brown Hawker Dragonfly .......

I wouldn't have had a clue about the name,Angela..but a nice sight and a good photo :o) x

Sandra I looked it up lol although OH told me what it was.

You are so honest,Angela :o) and what a clever OH you have ! lol.x

great pic..I love dragon flys.

A beautiful photo well done ....

Lovely picture. I suppose it's enjoying the last bit of warmth.

Great photo. I love these brown hawkers. When the sun strikes on their wings they shine like copper.

wpw. amazing that you saw it at all, and lovely pic. how close were you? never seen a dragonfly in real life, sigh. maybe next year ...

Thanks all, a lucky shot, Fran I was about 8 ins away, we used to get some amazing blue ones in the garden when we had the larger pond, up close they are so beautiful.

Saw a big one cruising about recently too. We are quite near a brook so they must breed there. They are such wonderful fliers and hunters of flying insects. Occasional visits from this smaller brown one too DD.

Lucky you, have not seen the larger ones for a few years now....

my gardener saw a blue one when we were working at the bottom of the garden, but by the time he'd pointed it out to me it had gone. maybe next year

We get the large hawkers here...yellow and black bodies., and sometimes the damselflies, the smaller ones with the black spot on their wings, also the small damsel with the bright blue bodies.

it sounds marvellous. What kind of landscape to they prefer? moist, I assume, but after that, I'm lost

Hi Fran, firstly they like a pond of some kind around and grasses, reeds or water iris around the pond to rest on. We have the river down the road so I expect that is a large reason why we get them here as well. They feed on the wing on insects.

thanks, Linda, I can start planning now! There's a brook on the other side of the open ground beyond our fences, so there should be plenty there in the right season. Mind you, when I first moved in it was barely a trickle, though it made up for that when the rain started!

The larva live in the water and feed on live food in the stream or pond. It's amazing to think that these creatures have been around for a lot longer than we have. Prehistoric.

lol they don't need to evolve any further, they're reached their pinnacle of perfection.