Today I returned to Winterton to again look for the Southern Emerald, but primarily to have a better look at the probable Common Hawker seen yesterday, which was a new species for me. On the walk to the pools a number of Brown and Migrant Hawkers were seen patrolling the area.
A check on the Swallowtail caterpillar seen yesterday revealed it was still there, but upon reaching the pool where the Southern Emerald had been I was greeted with negative news as a number of others had been searching for it for some time with no success. As yesterday good numbers of Common Emeralds were evident on the pool and in the surrounding vegetation, and a couple of Emperors were patrolling the pond and occasionally landing.
One was seen to catch a Darter Sp. over the pool and then take it into the grass to devour.
Unlike yesterday when it was always quickly driven off by the Emperor, the Common Hawker spent a lot more time over the pool and thus allowed more time to study it in flight and establish its main features. Sadly it never landed in sight, but I did manage to get this flight shot of it over the pool and although pretty poor its still good enough to help confirm the id so I was pleased with yet another new species of Dragonfly.
