AN extremely rare dragonfly has returned to Basildon’s Wat Tyler Country Park for the third year in a row.

The southern migrant hawker has again found its way back to the park, in Pitsea Hall Lane.

It originates from the continent and has only been spotted a handful of times in the UK.

Experts believe the rare species has only bred in this country since 2010.

It was last seen at Wat Tyler this time last year, but Henry Curry, Ssecretary of the British Dragonfly Society, captured it on camera again at the weekend.

Kevin Blake, Basildon councillor responsible for leisure and arts, said: “It is wonderful to see a specimen as rare as this come back toWat Tyler and shows what a diverse park it is for wildlife.

“Although the park is known as a family attraction, it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest, because of its remarkable wildlife.

“Countryside services work hard to balance these two potentially conflicting uses of this popular park and it’s a great credit to this management that we attract fantastic wildlife.”

Staff at Wat Tyler first spotted a lone female dragonfly in 2011, and on August 8 last year, members of the Wat Tyler Education Team and children on a holiday play scheme spotted a very blue looking dragonfly, which turned out to be a southern migrant hawker.

Three more were then spotted on August 9.

This year, a hakwer was first spotted by RSPB volunteer Dave Gonning, on August 1, and visitors, including Mr Curry, have been coming to see the brightly coloured insect since then.

For more information on the dragonfly visit british-dragonflies.

org.uk/species/southern-migranthawker