Adrian Jones has sent in this lovely photo of a Common Hawker seen over a period of 2 days in his wildlife garden in Shrewsbury. Though named a Common Hawker this species is far from common in garden habitats, more typically being found on acidic pools such as those on the Long Mynd or up at Whixall Moss. Garden ponds typically play host to Southern, Migrant or Brown Hawkers.
Interestingly I also saw Common Hawker unexpectedly at Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre in August- again some distance from typical habitat. It will be interesting to analyse all the records this winter and see how many other ‘out of place’ sightings there have been for this species.