Once or twice a season I walk round a corner in the garden and run smack into a Southern Hawker. If I have my wits about me, I can generally throw my bum into reverse in time to stop and give them some space, but if not and I startle them, they take to the air and I’m left cursing myself for not paying due care and attention.
Today I walked into the wild garden, pivoted round the quince tree en route to the pond, found myself virtually face-to-face with a Hawker, screeched to a halt, and said “Woah! Sorry! didn’t see you there for a moment. Sorry to disturb!” Luckily it turned out that the object of my apology wasn’t actually too bothered, and he sat there quite phlegmatically while I played Grandmother’s Footsteps: step, photo, step, photo, step, photo… until I was close enough to capture good facial details. For context I’ve included a wide shot, which shows the dragon’s size relative to one of the huge crop of quinces currently weighing down this tree.
I’ve never seen an explanation for the facial markings you commonly see on Southern Hawkers, but according to the experts (backed by my own experience in the field) they’re unique, and allow definitive identification of individual dragons. I’ll certainly recognise this one if we should ever meet again.
