Stephen Burch's Birding & Dragonfly Website

Home | Trip Reports | Gallery | UK index | Oxon pics | UK pics | Dragonflies | Other Nature | Contact | Links


Dragonfly and Damselfly Photos 2022

  Common Darter, Standlake Common, Oxfordshire

8 October 2022

It has been a difficult time for me recently, but it was good to be able to get out today. Nice to see a late dragonfly in the sunny conditions. Thanks to David Hastings for finding it!

Quite possibly my last photo of the season.

Click to enlarge   
  Migrant Hawker, Faringdon Folly Park Pond, Grove,  Oxfordshire

7 September 2022

With a bit of sun today, I paid a quick visit to this site to see what late season species were around. In the blustery conditions, the Migrant Hawkers weren't posing well but I got a few frames of this one in flight - rather distant.

Click to enlarge  
  Migrant Hawker, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove,  Oxfordshire

26 August 2022

My customary late season Migrant Hawker in-flight shots. This individual was being less obliging than some, and only hovering for very brief periods at very variable distances from the lens.

The head-on view.

Click to enlarge   
Migrant Hawker, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove,  Oxfordshire

26 August 2022

As above, but nearly sideways on.

Click to enlarge    
Migrant Hawker, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove,  Oxfordshire

26 August 2022

Briefly settled with a plain background.

Click to enlarge 
  Willow Emerald Damselfly, Trap Grounds,  Oxford

19 August 2022

Time for a change of scene and a hunt for some species variety! This male posed for awhile on this stem but the wind didn't help with keeping it still.

A huge thanks to Nicola Devine for showing me around and finding most of these!

Click to enlarge  
Willow Emerald Damselfly, Trap Grounds,  Oxford

19 August 2022

This one was easier to approach more closely than the one above. This a "partial" focus stack image, using about 4 shots to just get the whole body sharp, without the wings which were moving around in the breeze.

Click to enlarge 
  Common Darter, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

11 August 2022

An in-flight photo - coming closer than usual at this site, but not easy to get onto in the hot conditions.

Click to enlarge      
  Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

11 August 2022

With 70+ individuals counted here, a few had started to settle on the vegetation surrounding the pool. I rather liked this pink flower that was favoured by them. Another focus-stacked image.

Click to enlarge     
Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

11 August 2022

A tandem pair close in to the bank - another focus-stacked image.

Click to enlarge    
  Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Faringdon Folly Park Pond, Oxon

9 August 2022

This species is also doing well at this site in the favourable conditions (for Odonata that is). This is a focus-stacked photo.

Click to enlarge     
   
   
  Common Darter, Faringdon Folly Park Pond, Oxon

9 August 2022

Looking good in the morning sun!

Click to enlarge     
  Common Darter, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

19 July 2022

Mature adult males are beginning to show around the edge of this pond. Another focus-stacked image.

Click to enlarge    
  Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

19 July 2022

The comments below for the photo all apply to this shot, which is also focus-stacked.

Click to enlarge   
  Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Grove, Oxon

9 July 2022

Small Red-eyed Damselflies can be quite difficult to photo as they may keep well away from the bank. However at one particular spot at this site, they were coming closer than usual, once the sun had come out.

The tilting screen on the Canon R5 was useful in getting a reasonably low camera angle.

Click to enlarge  
  Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Dida Gardens Pond, Didcot, Oxon

17 June 2022

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly is an Oxon rarity, and wasn't recorded between 2000 and 2020. A colony was then discovered on a stormwater pond in Banbury, which was followed in 2021 by another colony again at a stormwater pond in Didcot. This year they were also found on a more accessible pond on a nearby housing estate.

Previously, around a dozen had been reported here but I initially struggled to find any. However after some time, I managed to spot 2-3 in the considerable heat!

Click to enlarge   
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Dida Gardens Pond, Didcot, Oxon

17 June 2022

Another slightly closer shot. These were not easy subjects to get close to!

Click to enlarge    
  Broad-bodied Chaser, Dida Gardens Pond, Didcot, Oxon

17 June 2022

There was plenty of other activity on this site, including this fine male Broad-bodied Chaser. Didn't settle for long in the hot conditions though.

Click to enlarge    
  Scarce Chaser, Shillingford, Oxon

15 June 2022

This super Oxon rarity (this was only the third record ever), was found the previous evening by John Bloomfield.

Very fortunately, it was still present at exactly the same spot the next morning. I spotted it immediately on arrival but it stayed for only ten minutes before disappearing.

Click to enlarge  
Scarce Chaser, Shillingford, Oxon

15 June 2022

The view from the front. The light here wasn't the best - much improved in the late afternoon/evening for those observers who came later!

Click to enlarge   
  Broad-bodied Chaser, Scantlebury Way Pond, Wantage, Oxon

14 June 2022

The water quality at this stormwater pond looked very poor and cloudy. Despite this, there was some activity including this female Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing and hovering briefly.

Click to enlarge    
Broad-bodied Chaser, Scantlebury Way Pond, Wantage, Oxon

14 June 2022

In the momentary act of ovipositing.

Click to enlarge     
Broad-bodied Chaser, Scantlebury Way Pond, Wantage, Oxon

14 June 2022

The head-on view.

Click to enlarge  
  Common Blue Damselfly, Thrupp Lake, Radley, Oxon

11 June 2022

I had been hoping for some Downy Emerald shots from the boardwalk in the NW corner of this lake but they were being harassed constantly by the damselflies and never hovered long enough.

So instead I tried this unusual perspective on the pesky damselflies flying around low over the water below me!

Not for the first time, this shot was only possible because of the remarkable AF on the Canon EOS R5!

Click to enlarge   
  Azure Damselflies, Boundary Brook Nature Reserve, Oxford

10 June 2022

Not a great deal of photo opps here this morning, so I tried a few flight shots of these damselflies in cop. High ISO needed!

Click to enlarge  
  Emperor, Grove Meadows Stormwater Pond, Oxon

7 June 2022

In dull conditions, the Emperors on this pond seemed to be coming closer to the bank than usual and very occasionally hovering for long enough to get onto them.

Even so this was the only shot I got of one that was virtually sideways on to the camera.

Probably my closest sharpest Emperor-in-flight photo.

Click to enlarge
  Large Red Damselfly, Faringdon Folly Park Pond, Oxon

21 May 2022

Another focus stacked image.

Click to enlarge 
  Blue-tailed Damselfly, Faringdon Folly Park Pond, Oxon

21 May 2022

A focus stacked image.

Click to enlarge
  Common Blue Damselfly, Standlake Common, Oxon

17 May 2022

A teneral female briefly settled on the bridge at the end of Langley Lane, by the stream.

Click to enlarge
  Clubtail larva, Goring (Gatehampton) Railway Bridge, Oxon

14 May 2022

Clubtails appear to be having a good season so far. There were at least 8 exuviae here today, but no sign of any emergents or adults unfortunately.

However later that day (mid-afternoon) an emergent was seen by another observer.
© All pictures copyright Stephen Burch

Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites