The colourful southern hawker or blue hawker (Aeshna cyanea) is a common dragonfly of ponds, lakes, and canals, where it can be seen patrolling a regular patch of water when hunting, or 'hawking', through woodland rides. The female is paler, with pale green spots and brownish eyes. Hawkers are the largest and fastest flying dragonflies; they catch their insect-prey mid-air and can hover or fly backwards. It is found in southern and central Europe, north-west Africa and east across Asia all the way to China and Mongolia.
