Dragonfly and Damselfly Pics 2007
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Migrant Hawker, Oxon 15 September 2007
For something a bit
different, try clicking on this image to see a short
animation!
Thanks to Steve Cham for
the suggestion of animations.
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Migrant Hawker, Oxon 15 September 2007
One of the best of many
quite reasonable flight shots - they were hovering for
relatively long periods. I even managed to get the auto-focus
to work, when they were so close and still.
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Migrant Hawker, Oxon 15 September 2007
See below.
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Migrant Hawker, Oxon 15 September 2007
See below.
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Migrant Hawker, Oxon 15 September 2007
Masses of Migrant
Hawkers, just waiting to be photoed both settled and in
flight.
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Southern Hawker, Little
Whittenham, Oxon 15
September 2007
Back in the UK, and a
good late summer 'Hawker' day, with plenty of sun &
little wind. This was relatively early in the morning.
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Female Iberian Bluetail,
villa garden, Praia da Luz, Portugal 23 August 2007
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Red-veined Darters,
Alvor Estuary, Portugal 28 August 2007
One of the few dragonfly
breeding habitats found - fresh water was not abundant.
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Red-veined Darter,
villa garden, Praia da Luz, Portugal 29 August 2007
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Red-veined Darter,
villa garden, Praia da Luz, Portugal 29 August 2007
Very numerous species...
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Scarlet Darter, villa
garden, Praia da Luz, Portugal 20 August 2007
Scarlet Darter, but the
obvious pale cross markings on the abdomen don't appear
in the book.
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Lesser Emperor, Pera
Marshes, Algarve, Portugal 28 August 2007
Somewhat commoner in
Portugal than the UK. This was the only one I found
settled for long enough to take pics.
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Brown Hawker, Radley
Lakes, Oxon 11
August 2007
Taken while waiting for
the L Emperor to appear - not much point laying eggs in
Thrupp Lake, if it is to be drained shortly..
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Lesser Emperor, Radley
Lakes, Oxon 11
August 2007
A record shot of this
rarity - shows all the diagnostic features including the
narrow yellow band just in front of the blue at the base
of the abdomen.
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Small Red-eyed
Damselfly, Oxon 5
August 2007
I can assure viewers of
my website that this was not an easy picture to get!
Needed more extreme measures than I would normally
consider...
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Mating pair of Small
Red-eyed Damselfly, Oxon 5 August 2007
See above
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Ruddy Darter, Sole
Common Pond, Berks 4
August 2007
A not fully mature adult?
Also at this site today,
Southern Hawker, Emerald Damselfly and plenty of Four-spotted
Chasers. No sign though of Black Darters.
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Female Emperor
ovipositing, Decoy Heath, Berks 28 July 2007
I'm reliably informed
that BBOWT has recently put a lot of effort into this
excellent reserve, which would have been much better for
dragonflies if the weather hadn't been so appalling
recently!
Apparently Keeled
Skimmer, and Small Red Damselfly occur here, as well as
Downy (but probably not Brilliant) Emerald. No sign of
any of these rarer species in only just passable (for
dragonflies) conditions today.
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Male Emperor, Oxon 21 July 2007
Plenty of these around
today in a brief sunny spell, having clearly survived the
deluge of yesterday, albeit a bit battered!
This one would come in
to settle in a sheltered corner when the sun went behind
clouds, but took off again the moment the sun reappeared
- about 1 sec after this shot was taken!
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Immature Black Darter,
Whixall Moss NNR, Shropshire 7 July 2007
I first thought this was
an immature Ruddy Darter, but thanks to Kate Dent from
Berks, for correcting me. The diagnostic 3 yellow spots
in the black band on the side of the thorax are clearly
visible.
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Emerald Damselfly,
Whixall Moss NNR, Shropshire 7 July 2007
In poor, windy
conditions, there was no sign of White-faced Darter which
was the main object of this trip. But these damselflies
were some compensation, in a few pools sheltered by a
small clump of trees.
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Immature Common Darter,
Greenham Common, Berks 23 June 2007
No sign of the Red-veined
Darters here today in far from ideal conditions. As well
as a few Common Darter, there were Black-tailed Skimmers,
Emperors & various common Damselflies here.
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Blue tailed Damselfly,
Oxon 17 June 2007
Presumed female of the
form violacea
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Male Common Blue
Damselfly, Oxon 17
June 2007
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Downy Emerald, Sole
Common Pond, Berks 10
June 2007
I appreciate this isn't
the sharpest picture, but dragonflies in flight aren't
easy!
This was at least
hovering for a second or two. Usually just long enough to
find it in the camera, but not to focus and press the
shutter! Once or twice it stayed put for just a little
longer.
More light in the form
of sunshine would have improved matters, and given faster
shutter times to avoid the wing blur.
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Red eyed Damselfly,
Oxon 10 June 2007
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Four spotted Chaser,
Oxon 10 June 2007
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Club tailed Dragonfly,
Goring, Oxon 2
June 2007
See below.
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Club tailed Dragonfly,
Goring, Oxon 2
June 2007
Success at last! Not
easy to spot, or photo, though. Best picked up in flight
low over the river, and then follow them until they
settle. However, this one didn't stay in any one place
for long, and disappeared around 13:00.
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Banded Demoiselle,
Goring, Oxon 20
May 2007
See below for comments
on technical aspects.
Taken while abortively
searching for Club-tailed. Definitely my bogey species!
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Female Blue-tailed
Damselfly, Goring, Oxon 20 May 2007
My first attempt with
extension tubes (all 3 Jessops together!) on the EOS350D
& EF 400mm. Certainly allows much higher
magnification - bringing damselflies into 'play'.
Somewhat predictably, the downside is the incredibly
small depth of field, even at quite small aperture.
Tripod essential!
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