Southern Delights in Essex

With a very good sized colony of the nationally rare Southern Migrant Hawker found in a ditch at Canvey Island in Essex, I decided to make the 90 minute drive to hopefully see them over the weekend. As seems to be the case, most of the week when I am at work is lovely warm sunshine but the weather forecast for Saturday was for early sunny spells and then clouding over but still pretty warm temperatures. After convincing myself that the weather was hopefully going to be alright, I arrived in the area at 9.30am and parked nearby at the Waterside Sports Centre and walked c10 minutes to the entrance to the recycling centre. Crossing over the road here was the ditch in question and it wasn't long until I started my search. At first it was still quite cloudy but it wasn't long until the sun made an appearance and I was soon looking at my first male Southern Migrant Hawker hanging up in a bush. With their brilliant blue eyes and abdomen, they do stand out quite well which was helpful. After a few pleasing shots, I then spent the next 3 hours walking no further than c300 yards and managed to see 20+ Southern Migrant Hawkers flying up the ditch and perching occasionally when the sun went in.

Southern Migrant Hawker (male)

It was also nice to see a pair in tandem and I watched as the pair flew into the reeds occasionally where the female was seen ovipositing. A good sign for the future hopefully. As the morning rolled on, so the clouds rolled in which gave me some time to find a few perched individuals and with light to a premium, I took a few shots adding some flash which worked well for a few shots.

Southern Migrant Hawker (male)

Before I left, I spent some time talking to others on site enjoying the spectacle and made time to try to capture a few flight shots which in the end, became a little addictive. It was worth it though with a few shots turning out quite nicely. Also noted on site were c30 Scarce Emerald Damselfly and plenty of Ruddy and Common Darter. With a good number of these stunning dragonflies seen and if you haven't seen one, you should make the effort to see them, I made my way back to the car on onwards back home to Kent. It seems to be a bumper year for this species in Essex this year with others being seen at a few nearby sites and hopefully, this trend will continue and spread into north Kent again in the next few years. 

Southern Migrant Hawker (male)