Sorry for the long silence. Lindsay and I have been away for a stay on North Uist, in the Outer Hebrides. A short while before we departed, some kindly soul reversed into my Smart car, with enough force to stove in the front end, so this kept me a bit preoccupied sorting out that mess (just got the car back today). Over the next few days I will be trying to catch up with the blogs I visit - but please bear with me while I sort things out! This post is one that I drafted before we went away.
The damselfly/dragonfly scene had been getting off to a bit of a slow start in these parts and, whilst I'd seen a few damselflies (Large Red and Common Blue) I'd not seen any dragonflies.
As Natural England had kindly issued me with a permit to visit Chartley Moss in Staffordshire (I live close to the Leicestershire - Staffordshire border) I thought I'd see if I had more luck there.
Chartley Moss is, I believe, the only floating bog in England and, as such, is potentially dangerous. It's possible to fall through the floating moss into the 12 metre deep water below, so care is needed! For this reason, I am encouraged by Natural England to take someone with me when I visit.
On this occasion I had the privilege to be accompanied by Leicestershire dragonfly enthusiast, and 'thoroughly good bloke', Jim Graham.
Jim arrived at my house at 10h00 as arranged, but I'd was in the middle of a call from my insurance company to talk about arrangements for the collection of my Smart car which someone had wrecked by reversing into it. I managed to conclude the conversation fairly quickly and we set off in my other car.
Chartley Moss is less than an hour from my home, but there is a bit of a walk to the site from where we parked the car, so it was nearly 11h30 before we were on site.
We'd noted that a car was at an interim position with a note in the window saying that 'Steve' was on site with a permit.
On the way to the main dragonfly area there were a number of Green Hairstreak butterflies around.
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| Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) - Chartley Moss |
We also noticed several lizards scurry from the path we were following, but they were too quick for photography.
If someone had told me at the start of the year that my first dragonfly of 2019 would be a White-faced Darter, I would not have believed them, but this did, indeed, prove to be the case as one flew off into the distance some time before we got to the open-water area.
We arrived at the water to find Steve there with a whole mass of very professional-looking photographic equipment. Apparently it had taken him several trips to get it all to site, and he was indeed a professional photographer, primarily specialising in video.
Steve turned out to be an extremely amiable person, and told us that it had been a bit quiet thus far, but he did point us at an emerged White-faced Darter which he said was almost certainly dead as it didn't seem to be securely gripping the stem it was on. It was only when I got my photos up on my computer screen that I saw that it was indeed dead, with a mean-looking spider making a meal of its abdomen!
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| Spider's lunch - Chartley Moss |
Before continuing, I'll confess to a big mistake I'd made. As I was expecting/hoping to take close-up photos of dragonflies, and wanted to travel light, I'd only taken my 150 macro lens with me. I soon became aware that this was the wrong choice. Much of the action took place at a distance. However, when it was close it tended to be almost at water-level. This last aspect was a little problematic as, when one knelt down, one's knees sank into the moss and were instantly enveloped by 10 cm depth of water. Lying down to get a shot wasn't really an option without getting soaked from head to foot. A longer lens would have allowed a more acute angle of shooting. I'd have been far better off with the 50-500 with its good macro capability. For the most part, therefore, my photography was not good!
We soon found a White-faced Darter which was well into the emergence sequence, with its wings and abdomen already well extended, but it was good to watch this until it was ready to take flight.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral male) - Chartley Moss |
Elsewhere, other emergences were taking place.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral male) - Chartley Moss |
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
At one point, Steve alerted us to a nymph making its way to the edge of the water, but we lost it after it went behind a clump.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (nymph) - Chartley Moss |
I did manage a distant sequence of an emergence from just after the head and thorax emerged from what would become the exuvia (the shed skin of the nymph). Here's a shot from just after that happened (a very heavily cropped image - hence the poor quality) .
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
The abdomen is slowly released and the teneral dragonfly then (as is usual for most dragonflies) hangs, head-down, whilst its legs dry out and gain strength so that it can grip the stalk that it's emerging on.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
After this stage, the dragonfly flips back up to hold onto the stem. Then starts the process of the abdomen extending to its full length and getting less translucent as it does so, while the wings are pumped up and dried, getting more transparent in the process. In the first two images, the wings have become visible but are very crumpled.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
In the next image, you can see the wings are still a bit crumpled and need to be pumped up to full size.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
In the next two images, you can see that the abdomen is extending and starting to show markings, and the wings are lengthening and becoming less opaque.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral) - Chartley Moss |
Sadly, at this time, stamina was running out, and it was time to start our departure before seeing this beauty take to the air. However, during shooting the above sequence, I had a great opportunity when a teneral WFD made its maiden flight and landed in a place where I could photograph it.
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| White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia dubia) (teneral male) - Chartley Moss |
On the way back, the numbers of Green Hairstreak butterfly seemed to have increased and I have never before seen so many at a single location.
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| Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) - Chartley Moss |
Back on the track from the farm to the road, Jim spotted a Small Copper butterfly - my first for the year.
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| Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - near Chartley Moss |
Apart from the faux pas with the choice of lens taken, it had been a highly enjoyable visit, thanks to the company of Jim and Steve, and the wonderful action observed - the emergence of a dragonfly is one of nature's marvels and one that will never cease to delight and amaze me.
However, I do have to express some concern from observations at this visit. It seems that, for some reason unknown to me, the White-faced Darters were emerging much lower down than usual - often only just out of the water - and it seems that a significant number of emergences were coming to grief because of this. Most of the exuviae that I found were actually in contact with the water! I wondered if there was a wind-factor here, with the vegetation being too mobile for comfort at a greater height. However, although it was breezy while we were there, I wouldn't describe it as windy. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
My thanks to Jim for his company, and to Natural England for their permission to visit, both of which were absolutely key to this event.
I suspect that my next post will feature butterflies!
Thank you for your visit.
It is quite apparent, Richard, that before returning to this site you need to acquire a head-to-toe wet suit, and perhaps even snorkelling equipment. Who knew that dragonfly hunting could be such an adventure? Look forward to reports from the distant isles.
ReplyDeleteI have an easier location available to me for photographing this species, David, but it's at a far greater distance from my home, so I might have to invest in your suggested equipment.
DeleteI'm reckoning it will be at least a couple of weekes before the first Hebridean installment.
My love and best wishes to you both - - - Richard
Another excellent illustrated tour, this one of Chartley Moss. An amazing floating bog and the only one in England which I confess to never having heard of Richard.
ReplyDeletePleased to hear you have your car repaired and returned.
Regards
Pete
It is am amazing place, Pete, but not the easiest for photography as one foot out of place could lead to disaster!
DeleteMy very best wishes to you - I hope Conder Pool gets some rain soon - - - Richard
An excellent series of photos Richard of a stunning species. Nice to see you photographing the stages of the emergence (I like these as you know). Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marc, for your much-appreciated kind words. Best wishes - - - Richard
DeleteHi Richard! Amazing pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne!
DeleteHello Richard,
ReplyDeleteI myself have never been able to observe this, thanks to your pictures, I now know how it works and where to look for it, maybe I'll be lucky
super nice pictures
Greetings Frank
Thank you for your visit, Frank, and your kind words. The emergence of a dragonfly is something that is a marvel to watch, but you need patience as it takes a while to happen! I hope you do get lucky.
DeleteWith my best wishes - - - Richard
The White-faced Darter is the beautiful, and the one that close up is a fantastic Richard.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. The White-faced darter is one of my favourite dragonflies, and always a treat to see. With my very best wishes - - - Richard
DeleteI did leave a comment a few days ago. I know not where it has gone. I just complemented you on the images and asked how long it takes a dragon fly to emerge. It would make an interesting timelapse.
ReplyDeleteHi Adrian - I expect you might have done what I know I've done a few times, which is to write a comment, then get distracted and wander away from the page before sending it, losing the comment into the ether in the process. It certainly never arrived at this end!
DeleteTo answer your question, the time taken is quite variable, and partially dependent on weather. I did once time the emergence of this species in favourable weather conditions and it was as good as exactly 3 hours from the nymph leaving the water to the dragonfly taking its first flight. If you ever manage a timelapse of this process, I'd love to see it!
My very best wishes - - - Richard
Beautiful dragons Richard. Have a nice weekend. Greetings Caroline
ReplyDeleteThank you, Caroline. Unfortunately, the weather so far this weekend has been dominated by virtually continuous rain. My best wishes - - - Richard
DeleteHi Richard, a lovely post and as always great photographs. Sorru to hear about your car grrrrrrr.
ReplyDeleteWe were also away for 10 days. I took too many photos and on our return home the grass was almost knee high as were the weeds, so I am getting nowhere with my photos due to lack of time. I am wondering if I should just stop blogging for a while!!! We have visitors from the USA in August and September and then South Africa calls in October and November. I will again return with too many photos I am sure!!
Take care and all the best to you both, Diane
Thank you, Diane.
DeleteI know the problem of having too many photos to process after trips away. I usually reckon that it takes one day of intense photo processing for each day spent away. I fired off just short of 5,000 frames in the 9 non-travelling days we were in Scotland. I came back to find the garden had grown like a jungle, and was full of weeds, but it has barely stopped raining since we got home and so it looks like a disaster area now. It's probably going to be a while before my next blog post, and a post on the Hebriean adventure is at least 3 weeks away I reckon!
My very best wishes to you and Nigel. Take good care, and don't let the pressures get you down! - - - Richard
Hello Richard,
ReplyDeleteI am also always late in responding. Too busy with my work or just like a few days away last weekend (without internet).
Your photos are really incredibly beautiful. The small sized butterfly is even fantastic! You also managed to immortalize your dragonflies in a beautiful way, where you could make a nice ornament from slipping into the dragonfly. Really beautiful to be with.
I really enjoyed all this beautiful from nature again :-)
Kind regards, Helma
Thank you for those very kind words, Helma. I know the feeling of being too busy too well - I don't know how I ever managed when I had to work to earn a living!
DeleteI wish you a wonderful weekend. Take good care - - - Richard
Un reportaje espectacular, las fotos de la metamorfosis son un auténtico lujo. Enhorabuena Richard, un fuerte abrazo desde España.
ReplyDeleteHola, Germán. Para mÃ, el surgimiento de una libélula es una de las grandes maravillas de la naturaleza y un placer absoluto de ver. ¡Sin embargo, toma tiempo! Cálido saludo de una Inglaterra frÃa y muy húmeda - - - Richard
DeleteHello Richard, most wonderful captures of the outcoming of the dragonfly. I have seen it a few times but I should get up much earlier to observe the whole proces. I mostly saw the last moments. Hard to get out of bed at the early hours. Hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteThe Grean Hairstreak is a wonderful butterfly and I still have to see my first one. You were so Lucky to have seen it. Last Monday got back from a week in France so that is the reason for my late respons. Now I have a lot of work with all the captures I took. But you for sure know the process.
Regards,
Roos
Hi Roos. I am not good with early starts to the day. For me the problem is, for reasons I won't go into, that it is difficult for me to leave the house before 10h00. This particular dragonfly species, however, seems to favour emerging towards the end of the morning, so the emergence is easier to witness - if you know where to find them!
DeleteGreen Hairstreak seem to have had a very good year this year, and I have been lucky to see many.
Yes, I well know the problem of being away for a week or more and having huge numbers of photos to process. As I mention to Diane, above, I usually reckon on a solid day of photo processing for each day of photography. I also find that if the weather is bad and the light not good, I take many more shots than I would do in good light, in the hope of getting something usable out of a bad bunch!
With my very best wishes - - - Richard