For me, July wasn't a brilliant month for damselflies and dragonflies. It seemed that, whenever I was free and the sun was shining, it was rather windy. However, I did manage a few sightings, and here are some images that I've not yet published on this blog.
On 10th July, in the morning, I was over at the farm where I buy garden bird food. My Little Owl Site No.15 is en route but, sadly, I've not seen an owl here since January, after a large part of the nest tree came down in a gale, and then Crows built a nest about a metre from the Little Owls nest hole entrance. I still check the site when I pass by, and this time I consoled myself with a few images of Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum).
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| Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (immature male) - near Alrewas |
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| Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - near Alrewas |
Later that same day I was on Osprey Duty at Rutland Water. Titus and I arrived early so went hunting for a short while. I was pleased to spot a 'C-type' immature female Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans), with its distinctive pink and orange thorax. It led me a merry dance, but I was determined to get some images. At one point it settled high and was peering at me from on top of a leaf!
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| Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) ('C-type' immature female) - Rutland Lyndon Reserve |
I also found a damselfly, shown below, that I was not able to identify. I have a feeling that it was newly emerged. Any help with its identity (sorry, it's a very poor image!) would be much appreciated.
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| unidentified damselfly - Rutland Lyndon Reserve |
On 22nd July, I was with my wife and Granddaughter at Ulverscroft Grange. I left the girls for a short while to see what was around, and found this immature male Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea). It wasn't until I checked my images at home that I realised it had a deformed left hindwing - I'm pretty sure it 's deformed rather than damaged as it looks as if the pterostigma on that wing is well inboard from where it should be. It didn't seem to have any problem flying, however!
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| Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) (immature male) - Ulverscroft Grange |
On 23rd July, I was on my local patch. My efforts to visit the drinking pond where I was hoping to monitor the dragons and damsels was thwarted by the herd of cattle, including a bull, that was camped out beside it. I did, however, take a walk and found Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) at the edge of a field of barley. I started by trying to use the Tamron 28-300 'macro', but couldn't get near enough. One of the results is shown below.
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| Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (immature male) - my local patch |
I switched to the Sigma 150-500 and got far better results. To my eyes, the background is a wonderful warm colour from the barley and the much-reduced depth of field removes the clutter. The last image is in as it shows the typical drop-wing pose of this species at rest.
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| Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (immature male) - my local patch |
On 24th July (the following day), I was back on my local patch again, hoping to see the Little Owls at my Site No.02 - sadly still not seen since 6th July. The Common Darters were still there, and I show this image of a male as it shows the face better than the above images. I didn't manage to totally eliminate the 'clutter' of the barley behind, however.
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| Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - my local patch |
On 26th July, I had a stroll along the Ashby Canal, and have already published some images from that visit. Here's three not shown before.
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| White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) (female) - Ashby Canal |
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| White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) (male) - Ashby Canal |
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| Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (female) - Ashby Canal |
That's it for now.
Thank you for dropping by.
Great images Richard, I hope you get an id on the darter as I have the very same species and I am 100% baffled to it's id I didn't however consider it could be a newly emerged youngster.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Doug. I'll let you know if anyone IDs that damselfly.
DeleteGreat set of shots Richard, particularly the Southern Hawkers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marc. For me, you and Noushka are setting the standards that one day I'd like to achieve.
DeleteThese are great shots, Richard. You are going to rival Noushka in your quality and precision.
ReplyDeleteNo way, David! I don't have the knowledge, dedication, artistic ability, technical ability, and photographic equipment that Noushka has, nor am I ever likely to achieve ANY of those attributes! She will, however, always inspire me to try and do better.
DeleteLove the Southern Hawkers,top class.
ReplyDeleteJohn.
Thank you, John. I love the sound they make as they fly past!
DeleteWOW Richard!!!
ReplyDeleteNot only your pictures are great and I envy you this Southern hawker, since they don't often perch in front of our cameras, but you make me blush terribly after reading your answer to David!
I find your Common darter pictures very graphic and exquisite especially the one in the barley.
How great to see your interest for dragons grow!! ;-)
Keep well and enjoy your weekend!
Thank you for your kind words, Noushka, and your continuing encouragement.
DeleteThe interest in dragons is taking up as much of my time as the owls are at present!. Should I be getting worried???
Hoping that all is well well with you.
PS/
ReplyDeleteYour banner is a must...
How come the species looks familiar?!!!!!
Thank you, Noushka. This one visited us several times last month. Fortunately the Sparrowhawks don't visit our garden very often, but when they do they usually end up sitting on the same bit of fence. I've never seen one actually catch anything in our garden, but I have found the occasional evidence of their success.
DeleteWell all animals have to survive and that's part of Nature's game.
DeleteSince we help our feathered friends in winter it means they breed more and so it's good for predators. Nature can function properly only if these prosper too, same with sharks! ;-)
Take care!!
Yes, but it's sad to see one's 'friends' being taken. My wife likes to scare the Sparrowhawks away - I just watch and try to photograph them!
DeleteLove these photos, they are such colourful little creatures. We never see them here, I guess we are too far from any water. Have a good week, Diane
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane. I'm surprised that you never see dragonflies there! There is now very little water near us, but we still see them in our garden from time to time.
DeleteIt is wonderful to see another post about dragonflies and familiar species:-). Excellent photos, Richard! Congratulations :-)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes from Opole Silesia...
Thank you, Michał and Piotr. I hope to get more 'dragon' sessions in before the end of the season!
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