welcome note


On this blog you will be able to share sightings of Dragonflies and Damselflies within the recording area of VC41. However, sightings further afield will be welcome on this site also. To become an author of this blog please register by sending an email to vc41dragonfly@gmail.com and an invite will be sent to you. Alternatively if you want to record your sightings on this blog but do not wish to register then please email sightings with or without photos to the above address and they can be published for you. Please continue to record your sightings through the correct channels and details of these can be found above.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Roath park

Southern Hawker??
Spotted this one in Roath Park this afternoon, and it very obligingly sat still for a snap.  I have tentatively id'd it as a Southern Hawker - again if it isn't perhaps someone would let me know!

4 comments:

Mark Hipkin said...

Nice photo. Yes it is a Southern Hawker - a female. The broad antehumeral stripes are a good feature to look for when identifying this species. Another good feature for Southern Hawker is, rather than having paired spots on S9 and S10 as other Hawker sp. do, this species shows the spots have merged together to form a band across each of the two end segments.

Adam Mantell said...

Thanks for the comments Mark - it's helpful to know I am on the right track! One question - what's the best dragon and damselfly book to help with id's?

Mark Hipkin said...

The book I use is Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland - Brooks Lewington - Further revised edition published 2002. I can highly recommend it but it isn't cheap (£19.00), and I'm not sure if it has been further revised?
The FSC do a chart which is OK. It's good for comparing sizes and seeing similar species side by side.
I also have the Dragonfly app for the Iphone and I find that very good too. Plus it's always to hand when out and about.

Mark Hipkin said...

Paul Grennard has made me aware that the printed version of the Dragonfly iPhone app is available from Amazon- Britain's Dragonflies: A Field Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland (2nd edition, fully revised updated)(Britain's Wildlife)