Finally Landed, Pt. 2 - _TNY_5631
Shooting hawker dragonflies isn't easy. They are such good fliers that they stay on the wing most of the time.
Catching their prey happens in the air and then you hope they will land and eat, but no - they do that while flying as well.
On occasion they do land for a short time though and then they like to do it like this - hanging down from a twig or leaf like some awesome christmas tree ornament or
something.
This one is a migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta), a species which appear late in the season. It's clearly smaller than other hawker species here - but still a rather large dragonfly.
The way the colours and pattern on this one looks shows it being a young male specimen.
Part 1 shows the entire dragon here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51588181415/
Finally Landed, Pt. 2 - _TNY_5631
Shooting hawker dragonflies isn't easy. They are such good fliers that they stay on the wing most of the time.
Catching their prey happens in the air and then you hope they will land and eat, but no - they do that while flying as well.
On occasion they do land for a short time though and then they like to do it like this - hanging down from a twig or leaf like some awesome christmas tree ornament or
something.
This one is a migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta), a species which appear late in the season. It's clearly smaller than other hawker species here - but still a rather large dragonfly.
The way the colours and pattern on this one looks shows it being a young male specimen.
Part 1 shows the entire dragon here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51588181415/