Dragonfly and Damselfly Pics 2010
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Brown Hawker, Radcot Lock, Oxon.
15 August 2010
These hawkers are quite difficult to photograph well,
and this is worth showing for that reason.
They tend to either zoom around all over the place, or
be settled deep in vegetation where they are both
difficult to see and get a clear shot of. Hence this one
taken on a casual walk was something of a bonus.
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Small Red eyed Damselflies, Shellingford Pit, Oxon. 8
August 2010
Despite the somewhat mixed recent weather, these were
doing well at this site, with at least 10+ present,
including several tandem pairs like this one.
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Small Red eyed Damselfly, Shellingford Pit, Oxon. 3
July 2010
The good weather is clearly having a beneficial effect,
with the speciality of this site present in good numbers
(5+), quite early in the season.
In the poor summer last year, I only found one or two
here and then not until mid August.
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Scarce Chaser, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 12 June 2010
See below.
Click pic to enlarge
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Scarce Chaser, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 12 June 2010
These shots took some persistence as most of these
dragonflies were in difficult to access locations on the
steep sided river banks.
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Blue tailed Damselfly, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 12
June 2010
A macro shot while on the Scarce Chaser quest (see
above).
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Northern Damselfly, Abernethy, Highland 5 June 2010
One our rarest damselflies, this was very difficult to
distinguish from Common Blues at the same site - only
careful inspection of the photographs afterwards revealed
its identity!
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White faced Darter, Tulloch Moor, Highland 5 June
2010
There were a few adult males present, but impossible
to photograph out over the pool. Immatures in the
surrounding heather were easier..
Click pic to enlarge
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White faced Darter, Tulloch Moor, Highland 4 June
2010
More distant photo than above, but at least this
specimen has a white face!
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Downy Emerald, Otmoor, Oxon 15 May 2010
An excellent start to the new season with this very
obliging, and early rarity. This appears to be the first
record of this species from Otmoor, and the first record
since 2004 from anywhere in Oxfordshire according to the
NBN database. I did however have a possible at Otmoor
last year.
Thanks to Peter Barker and Pete Roby for spotting this
one flying over my head!
Unusually for a dragonfly, this one preferred to close
its wings up, like a damselfly. Perhaps due to the cool
conditions?
The downy body shows well in this photograph. Click
pic to enlarge.
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Downy Emerald, Otmoor, Oxon 15 May 2010
An initial hand-held shot from some distance - the
only one showing the wings in the 'proper' straight-out
mode.
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| © All
pictures copyright Stephen Burch |
