The hour of the Southern Hawker

It definitely seems to be the time to catch these fantastic insects emerging from garden ponds and is certainly the best chance of getting a photo- when they're relatively still! Lots of records received in the last few days and some great pics from I.Carter:

and P.Sams in Ludlow: 

 

The opaque eyes and glassy wings are typical of newly emerged individuals and they should never be netted or handled at this stage as they are incredibly vulnerable to damage. Even though the colours will brighten as the insect matures, the diagnostic markings of the southern hawker are already clearly visible- broad antehumeral stripes (head lights) and continuous bands of colour at the end of the abdomen formed by the paired dots fusing together (tail lights).