Brown Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna grandis)Slide Show

This is a late season Hawker Dragonfly emerging in July and can be seen, usually in a tatty condition, right through to late September and even early October.

The male and female are brown in colour with brown suffused wings. There is no mistaking this very striking species. The males have blue patches near to the base of the abdomen and the eyes have a blue suffusion. The female has all brown eyes and a thicker abdomen that tapers towards its tip.

In my opinion this is undoubtedly one of the most challenging dragonfly species to approach & capture good images of. It seems to spend nearly all its time on the wing, very rarely settling. Even when it does it is a very difficult subject to get near enough to, to photograph in any great detail.

They settle in dense vegetation and often close to the ground which may hamper a stealthful approach. This Hawker is very easily disturbed and will readily fly off before you get anywhere near.

Occasionally a Brown Hawker will stop on an accessible perch, if so make the most of every opportunity as in my experience it is rare occurrence indeed.