Dragonfly and Damselfly Pics 2011
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Migrant Hawker, Shellingford Pit, Oxon 3 October
2011
What an extraordinary year for dragonflies! A superb
start back in April, then pretty dreadful weather for
most of the summer, and now these final(?) few glorious
days in October.
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Common Darter, Shellingford Pit, Oxon 3 October
2011
See above.
There were a few dragonflies at this site, which is
literally dying now for lack of water. Only two small
pools left, with all the rest dry. A great shame.
Click pic to enlarge
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Beautiful Demoiselle, Ober Water, Hampshire 31 July
2011
Quite good conditions for dragonflies at this New
Forest site, but there was no sign of my target species -
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly.
This Beautiful Demoiselle was some compensation.
Unfortunately it moved off before I could get really
sharp pictures, but the background is nice and clean.
Click pic to enlarge
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Azure Damselfly, Ober Water, Hampshire 31 July 2011
A species I have surprisingly only one other, old
photograph of.
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Small Red Damselfly, Cothill Fen, Oxon 30 July 2011
Another Oxon rarity - Cothill is the only known site
in the County for them.
A hand held macro shot, but shame about the crossing
stalk in the background!
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Keeled Skimmer, Cothill Fen, Oxon 30 July 2011
This is an Oxon rarity - one was patrolling the small
pond, on my first visit to this acidic site.
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Common/Highland Darter, Bridge of Grudie, Highland 13
July 2011
Highland Darter is no longer regarded as a separate
species, but this is a presumed immature of this sub
species of Common Darter, given its location.
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Common Hawker, Loch Coulin, Highland 13 July 2011
Close up of the maturing male.
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Common Hawker, Loch Coulin, Highland 13 July 2011
A maturing male.
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Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Aultbea, Highland 12 July
2011
An obliging specimen "crashed" in the garden
of our lodge.
Click to enlarge
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Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Aultbea, Highland 12 July
2011
The view from above. Both these photographs were taken
with the EF 100 macro.
Click to enlarge
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Downy Emerald, Thursley Common, Surrey 2 July 2011
A reasonable number of these were around the Moat Pool,
in the brief sunny spells. Also Keeled Skimmer, terneral
Black Darter from the boardwalk etc, but no sign of
Brilliant Emerald which was the main purpose of this trip.
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Emperor, Shellingford Pit, Oxon 11 June 2011
An interesting head-on view - getting sharp shots of
any part of a dragonfly in flight is not easy, even with
the supposed merits of the new EOS 7D's AF system!
Despite a 1/2000 sec shutter time, the wings are still
slightly blurred.
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Broad-bodied Chaser, Shellingford Pit, Oxon 11 June
2011
A mature adult now, almost a month on from the
terneral shown below. A few dragonflies were showing
today at the sheltered end of this pit, including Black-tailed
Skimmer and Emperor (see above).
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Broad-bodied Chaser, Shellingford Pit, Oxon 14 May
2011
A cool day for dragons, so I was surprised to find
this very early immature in a sheltered corner, away from
the water.
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Hairy Dragonfly, Otmoor, Oxon 25 April 2010
An excellent and very early start to the new season
with this Hairy Dragonfly - a species I have been after
better pics of for sometime now.
Thanks to Peter Barker for spotting this one, which
didn't stay settled for long.
These two pics were hand held and unfortunately it has
disappeared by the time I was fully ready with tripod and
extension tubes etc!
Click on pic to enlarge
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Hairy Dragonfly, Otmoor, Oxon 25 April 2010
See above
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| © All
pictures copyright Stephen Burch |
