Excellent news -Paul Hope has spotted a male Lesser Emperor Anax parthenope whilst cycling close to Fenemere north of Shrewsbury (SJ442226). In his own words he was so shocked he nearly fell of his bike, but is absolutely sure of the identification. Paul is the author of a book on Turkish Dragonflies and lived and worked in areas where he frequently saw this species so is very well placed to identify this species. Paul did not get a photo but a male is shown here (photographed by Pablo M-Darve). Slightly smaller than the Emperor, the main things to look for are a brownish thorax (not green), green eyes and a blue saddle area on the abdomen (segments 2-3) which stands out from the remainder of the dull abdomen.
The female is shown here (photographed by G. Osborn) which may lack the blue saddle area. This is the only hawker dragonfly to lay eggs in tandem.
This rare vagrant has never been recorded in Shropshire before so this is great news and one to look out for! There is more information on the Lesser Emperor species page.