Back on the 6th of June 2023, I spotted a strange dragonfly go past me and land in the foliage under some bushes at High and Over. After photographing it I realised that this was a Norfolk Hawker. At that time, there had only been a few sightings in Sussex of this dragonfly, so this sighting was indeed very exciting.
I then saw another Norfolk Hawker just 3 days later. This was really brilliant and unexpected to get a rare dragonfly so near to home.
The following year, on the 23rd May, I had a similar experience with a Norfolk Hawker, once again at High and Over. In 2024 I saw many more, including large numbers in Friston Forest, Abbotts Wood and a private woodland that I survey. These dragonflies were presumably maturing up before moving back to their breeding ditches. It seemed that the Norfolk Hawker was becoming established in my part of Sussex extremely quickly.
2025 was even earlier. Once again High and Over produced my first Norfolk Hawker of the year, this time on the 16th May. Again Friston Forest quickly became the place to go to see these, and it was only a couple of weeks later when I had 6 flying around me at the same time, and nearly every ride seemed to hold one or two Norfolk Hawkers
In just those 3 years, this dragonfly has gone from a rare and unexpected sighting to a common May/June species. Some of the photos follow from Friston Forest this year.
Lovely photos Bob. They really are a photogenic species. It won't be too long until they are spreading more north I expect. Nice to see a species doing well in all this doom and gloom with live in and hear about. Take care.
ReplyDeleteCheers Marc. Not too many reasons to be cheerful is there. Still, nature always lifts the gloom.
DeleteIt has certainly been an amazing year for butterflies and dragonflies so far this year. Most species have appeared earlier than usual and in greater numbers. We have noted the many new species of butterflies that have moved up to southern Scotland over the last few years and the same can be said for dragonflies. I saw my first Four-spotted Chaser on Sunday.
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