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Dragonfly and Damselfly Pics 2011

  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.

 Common Darter 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

 Beautiful Demoiselle (click to enlarge) 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

Azure Damselfly, Ober Water, Hampshire

31 July 2011

A species I have surprisingly only one other, old photograph of.

  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!

  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.

  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.

  Common Hawker, Loch Coulin, Highland

13 July 2011

Close up of the maturing male.

Common Hawker, Loch Coulin, Highland

13 July 2011

A maturing male.

 Golden-ringed Dragonfly Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Aultbea, Highland

12 July 2011

An obliging specimen "crashed" in the garden of our lodge.

Click to enlarge

Golden-ringed Dragonfly 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

  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.

  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.

  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).

  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.

 Hairy Dragonfly Hairy Dragonfly, Otmoor, Oxon

25 April 2011

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

Hairy Dragonfly, Otmoor, Oxon

25 April 2011

See above

© All pictures copyright Stephen Burch

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