SOUTHERN MIGRANT HAWKER-OTMOOR RSPB

Over the past two years, I have visited various sites across the British Isles to observe different Odonata species. Recently, I came across a social media post about the sighting of Southern Migrant Hawkers at Otmoor RSPB, in Oxfordshire. The reports mentioned that a few teneral females and two blue males had been spotted in the last few days. Since I had never seen this species before and Otmoor is only half an hour from where I'm staying, it provided a convenient option compared to making a longer journey to Kent, which is known as the best place in the British Isles to see them.

The first breeding colonies were established along the Thames Estuary, though they are spreading across southern England. They have also been recorded in Wales. Before the 21st century, there was only one confirmed record of a Southern Migrant Hawker in Britain. It came from Kent in 1952. There were a few more records in 2006, before an influx in 2010 led to the first records of them breeding in England.

Today, I visited Otmoor for the first time. After several hours of searching without any luck, I was fortunate to meet another dragonfly enthusiast who was also hoping to find this species. We exchanged phone numbers to stay in touch while continuing our search for the Southern Migrant Hawker dragonfly, in case one of us came across it.

While exploring the reserve, I was pleased to see the long-staying Glossy Ibis and several other birds that were seen throughout the visit.

Cattle egrets were in good numbers on the reserve.

Common Tern

Glossy Ibis

There was a good variety of dragonflies on the reserve, but I had no luck finding the Southern Migrant Hawker, so I started to walk back to the car.

Emperor Dragonfly

Ruddy Darter

Common Blue Damselfly

Brown Hawker

Banded Demoiselle

Southern Hawker

Black-tailed Skimmer

As I was walking back to the car, I noticed that Jed, whom I had exchanged phone numbers with earlier, was walking in front of me. Suddenly, he turned, looked around, and noticed me and started to wave. As I got closer, I saw that he had found a Southern Migrant Hawker roosting on a bush. Unbelievable.

Southern Migrant Hawker 

I couldn't believe it. The male just sat in the evening sun. We managed to get some photographs before it flew. Wow. 

The Southern Migrant Hawker used to be an extremely rare migrant from the Mediterranean. It has become much more common in the last two decades and has even started breeding in southern England. As you can see from the above photograph, the males are strikingly blue, with bright blue eyes. They have yellowish-green sides to the thorax and a black abdomen with extensive blue markings. There is a blue, triangular marking at the top of the abdomen. 

A great addition to the list and only one more Odonata needed for my British list, the Irish damselfly, which I will travel to Ireland to see next year.

 It was a great end to the day, and this Muntjac wasn't bothered about leading us back to our cars.