Until recently I had never seen an emperor dragonfly (Anax imperitor). This is surprising since the British Dragonfly Society describes the species as "Widespread in southern England and southern Wales; increasing its range northwards." In other words common where I have lived for the past three years. However, I know I haven't seen one because it is so big and boldly coloured that I am sure I would have remembered it. The emperor dragonfly belongs to the group known as "hawkers", and I am familiar with the common hawker, a species that we saw annually when we lived in north-west England. The specimen above was flying between some ornamental pools at the front of a country house and I got my image with a longish focal length lens that I had been using for architectural shots.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10
