Large green and black/brown dragonfly

Jackobyte

Today I came across a large green and brown/black dragonfly in west clare... it was about 3 inches long and had a wing span of about 4 inches... Its wings were a gold/brown... From googling I believe it to be either a female Emperor Hawker or a female Southern Hawker...

When I found it, it was on the ground attempting to fly but failing... It was in the middle of footpath so I picked it up and placed it on a window sill. It tried to fly and fell on the ground on its back (it has upside-down turtle syndrome...:D). I let it try fly for about 5 minutes before I picked it up again and placed it in a box and minded it for about 5 hours... I tried to let it fly away a couple of times during the 5 hours but it couldn't... Eventually at about 8.30 it managed to fly away and into the distance...

Anyone know what it was...? Where was it from...? Also is this the right place for this thread...?

star-pants

Did you get a photo of it?

Moved from Animals n Pets

AlanSparrowhawk

Jackobyte wrote: »

Anyone know what it was...? Where was it from...? Also is this the right place for this thread...?

Nature & Bird watching is better ofr this kind of stuff. Animals and Pet issues is more about dogs and cats and guinea pigs who won't eat their lettuce.

Jackobyte

Thanks for moving it... Ya this seems like a better suited forum...!

I got a few pics but the colour/clarity isn't great... Took them in low light on my phone because it was all I had with me... I got a pic of it sitting on €10 note so it is good picture to get idea of the size of it but you can't really see its markings...:(

Dusty87

Post up the pics anyway, lots of friendly people here. Any half good pics could help. Mothman on here knows his stuff on butterflys and moths. He may help.

Jackobyte

Will do tomorrow... Its past my bedtime now...;)

Dusty87

Jackobyte wrote: »

Will do tomorrow... Its past my bedtime now...;)

Theres also a thread on page 2 there wit a picture of the dragonfly you think it could be. Have a look, it may help;):)

Mothman

I'll await the photos. They may hold further clues.
Probably not Southern Hawker as it's not known to be resident in Ireland

Jackobyte

Looked at the thread... The OP picture looks the same as does the link to the southern hawker... The link to the common hawker looks similar but not the same...

No pics yet... Not at home and I don't have the right cable to upload them in my laptop bag... Will be home tonight so will do it then...

Also the dragonfly looked out of place anyway so maybe it got sidetracked somewhere on its flight... The southern hawker is found in England so it may have ended up in Ireland

Mothman

Jackobyte wrote: »

Looked at the thread... The OP picture looks the same as does the link to the southern hawker... The link to the common hawker looks similar but not the same...

No pics yet... Not at home and I don't have the right cable to upload them in my laptop bag... Will be home tonight so will do it then...

Also the dragonfly looked out of place anyway so maybe it got sidetracked somewhere on its flight... The southern hawker is found in England so it may have ended up in Ireland

What do you mean by out of place?
Juveniles and females spend most of their time away from water so can be seen miles away.
Despite the fact that Southern Hawker is in Britain, there has only been one confirmed sighting of this species in Ireland.
Always a possibility, but when looking for an ID the resident species have to be considered first. Most species have many colour forms, so if you are going by colour then it can be misleading.
Anyway, I'll await the pics

Jackobyte

It just didn't seem like something that should live in Ireland. It looked like it should be found on the continent or something...

Here are pics... As I said they are of pretty poor quality...! It was struggling to focus...!:( More pics in 2nd post

Jackobyte

The rest of the pics... These were in brighter area earlier in day but on 2mp camera phone... The 16.04 one is one of the better pics got of it...

Mothman

Yes some of those photos are really useful for identification

It's a female Common Hawker Aeshna juncea

The antehumeral stripes between eyes and wings are thin and short. In Southern Hawker they are broad. The male Common Hawker has long thin stripes.
There is no "golf tee" shape at beginning of abdomen (tail) ruling out Migrant Hawker.

Jackobyte

Thanks for that... Outta curiousity, how common are "common" hawkers...?

Mothman

Jackobyte wrote: »

Thanks for that... Outta curiousity, how common are "common" hawkers...?

I was going to put link in, but got called away, so just hit the reply button.
DragonflyIreland is best to give you answer. There is a link to map.