Hawker !

A road trip to Faversham to collect some DIY fittings,  gave me the opportunity to check out the nature reserve at Oare once again.

I couldn't resist checking out the ditches in the hope of catching another glimpse of the Southern Migrant Hawkers.

 I couldn't find a single specimen, my field guide tells me that its getting near the end of their flight time for this year, maybe that explains it, fortunately Migrant Hawkers are reaching  there peak.

Migrant Hawkers seem to have taken over the air-ways across the ditches, and true to form, there were a few very accommodating individuals prepared to hover right in front of me, for a change.

Migrant Hawker  Aeshna mixta

 Until I saw my first Southern Migrant Hawker, I found it quite difficult to distinguish between the two, especially as they patrolled up and down the ditches, but the Southern Migrant Hawker certainly lives up to its nick name of Blue Eyed Hawker as you can see below, and when seen well easy to separate from each other.

All these photographs were taken as the Migrant Hawker hovered stationary over the ditch water.

As  I made my way back to the car my first Painted Lady Butterfly for the year made an appearance.

Painted Lady