My wife, Lindsay, had been out looking for somewhere safe and uncrowded to take a walk during lockdown in order to get some exercise. In the morning of Monday 1st June, she called in at the Saltersford Valley reserve, and came back singing its praises, having first sent me a WhatsApp with a photo of the lake. Coincidentally, this was a location that I'd intended to explore last year, but never got round to mainly for health reasons.
Monday, 1st June
Having been encouraged by my wife's visit, and the weather forecast saying that there would be sunny spells in the afternoon, I set off to Saltersford Valley, which is less than 3 miles (4 km) from my home.
On arrival, first impressions were good as there was a Jay just the other side of the gate, and it seemed relatively confiding for a Jay.
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| Jay (Garrulus glandarius) - Saltersford Valley |
I walked to the spot where Lindsay had seen dragonflies and there were, indeed, dragonflies and damselflies to be seen, but these were distant and not stopping. I tried for a while to get some flight shots, but was totally unsuccessful. There were Four-spotted Chasers, a 'hawker' which I could not identify, but was probably Hairy Dragonfly, and a pale blue dragonfly which I only caught a very brief glimpse of, and was probably a male Black-tailed Skimmer or a male Broad-bodied Chaser.
I did, however, find a Large Red Damselfly resting up in a relatively conveneient position.
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| Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
Taking the path a little further, I came to an area where, to my delight, I found a Red-eyed Damselfly, but it was in a most unphotographable position. I gave up after a while, but took some shots of a pair of Mute Swan with seven youngsters. It was a charming sight.
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| Mute Swan family (Cygnus olor) - Saltersford Valley |
I then continued on the path and found myself beside another lake. Here a Red-eyed Damselfly was favouring a stalk (rather than the usual lily pad) relatively close to the edge, so I managed a few shots which I'm relatively pleased with - probably my best yet of this species.
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| Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
I briefly diverted my attention to a Blue-tailed Damselfly.
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| Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
Although this lake was large, access to the water's edge from this site is limited to a short stretch probably not much longer than about 5 metres long with virtually no vegetation for things to perch on, so the photographic opportunities are very limited. It was time to head round to the boardwalk on the far side of the first lake and see what might be there.
On the way there I took a few shots of a Green-veined White butterfly.
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| Green-veined White (Pieris napi) (female) - Saltersford Valley |
Having reached the boardwalk, at first, I was just seeing many damselflies - mainly Azure, with a few Blue-tailed. However, there were a couple of Four-spotted Chasers that occasionally had a spat with each other.
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| Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
I took a few more shots of damselflies.
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| Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) (male + female mating) - Saltersford Valley |
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| Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
I was about to leave, when I noticed a 'hawker-type' dragonfly approach the boardwalk. It was zooming around extremely fast and unpredicably, and there was no way I could get a flight shot. Later a second one appeared, and there may have been a third. I must have spent an hour waiting for one to land. Eventually I saw one grab its prey in flight and make off into the trees. I soon located it with the binoculars, probably just over 10 metres away, but it took me forever to find it with the camera as there was so much interfering foliage, and then each time I took my eyes off it to check my settings, I lost it again. I did get some shots which I find remarkably acceptable considering the distance, and was able to clearly identify it as a male Hairy Dragonfly, with the distinctive markings on the side of the thorax clearly visible, as shown in these two very heavily cropped images. That Sigma 50-500 lens sometimes performs quite well at the full 500 stretch!
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| Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
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It was now time to head home after a rewarding afternoon out.
Tuesday, 2nd June
I was a bit late getting out on this morning as the day started dull. However, it did start brightening up a bit so I headed back to Saltersford Valley, going directly to the boardwalk on the south-eastern edge of the lake.
I was hoping that I'd find the Hairy Dragonflies were being a bit more cooperative but, in the event, I didn't see one. There were a few damselflies around still, but they seemed to keep their distance.
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| Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male + female) - Saltersford Valley |
I can't fathom out of what species the teneral damselfly is in the next image - I think it might be a female Azure. For those persons new to the subject, when a dragonfly or damselfly first emerges as an adult (teneral), for a while it is virtually colourless. As it dries out, its abdomen and wings extend, and then the colour starts developing.
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| teneral damselfly - Saltersford Valley |
I also photographed a pair of Tufted Duck from the boardwalk.
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| Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) (male + female)- Saltersford Valley |
As it was quiet I set off to revisit the rest of the site, finding an old pal, Mick Smith, on the far side of the lake. We had a long chat, whilst maintaining 'social distance +' spacing, and it was great to have a chat with someone other than immediate family after such a long time.
Mick and I then went our separate ways and I headed round to the second lake, where I had photographed the Red-eyed Damselfly the previous day - it was back on its perch again, and I spent some time with it.
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| Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
Nothing else was happening here, so I set off back for a quick look at the boardwalk before it was time to head off home for lunch.
At the boardwalk, I had a very brief sighting of a male Hairy Dragonfly, but there was not as much going on here as on the previos day. I did, however, see, and manage to get soome shots of, a Banded Demoiselle.
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| Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
The beauty of Four-spotted Chasers is that they like to perch - although not always in convenient places!
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| Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Saltersford Valley |
This ended my time at Saltersford Valley, which was now starting to get busy with people. It took me lass than five minutes to get home, and I appreciated having somewhere like this so close to hand.
My next post will almost certainly be my Garden Lockdown report on Tuesday, followed by another Dragon report on the Thursday. Both posts might be a bit 'thin' as the weather forecast is not looking good.
In the meantime, take good care and stay safe. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard
Fantastic Richard, those Dragonflies are beautiful, especially Red-eyed Damselfly superb.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. I have always had difficulty photographing Red-eyed Damselflies, but this one made it somewhat easier for me. Best wishes - - - Richard
DeleteExcellent. Post Richard, a great outing with a good range of species seen and even a shot of a Hairy Dragonfly. Well done on your perseverance in stalking it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement, Marc. As you well know, where dragons are concerned, a good deal of patience is often necessary! I'm slowly building up the confidence to visit some of my old haunts and also looking for new places. I suspect that my next outing might be to look for White-legged Damselfly.
DeleteTake good care - best wishes - - - Richard
Great pictures Richard and interesting post. Stay safe. Mike.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed in Mike. Thank you, and take good care - - - Richard
DeleteI find some of these dragonfly shots quite amazing, Richard, sharp and crisp and showing so much detail. Wonderful stuff! Being able to get out again must feel quite liberating, and your dedication in doggedly chasing down some of these species paid off in spades. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying being out in the field again, David, and you are partially to thank for that as your own excursions close to home have been an inspiration to me.
DeleteIf you could only see the hundreds of camera shots that I have to discard in order to get any half-decent ones, you'd understand why I come up with the occasional reasonable shot. It's the scatter-gun approach to photography. A couple of years ago I was fortunate enought to have a one-on-one guided visit in the New Forest with a dragonfly expert. He gave me much good advice, but the bit that stuck was if shooting a static dragonfly or damselfly, frequently move your position very slightly and take more shots. The trick is to get the body of the subject perpendicular to the direction of the lens.
A buffet for the eyes! Thank you SO MUCH, Richard!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful the amazingly intelligent Lindsay found a spot for you to explore. And close to home. I strongly suspect we will be treated to more virtual visits to Saltersford Valley.
Your photographs are exquisite! What a diverse selection of damsels and dragons you found. We've been finding a few odonata recently but you have motivated me to renew my dedication to produce better quality images.
All is good here. We are at the beginning of our wet season and thunderstorms appear on schedule and with the increased humidity our outings are like wandering around in a sauna. Steamy!
Gini and I hope you and Lindsay have a terrific weekend!
We're in an area that is somewhat devoid of speciality damsels and dragons, Wally, although we have a good spread of the more common species. I have to go quite some distance to start finding the less common species.
DeleteAfter a worrying period of drought, we've now entered what appears to be a wet season ourselves, although we don't have the heat to go with it that you have! It is, however, limiting the photographic opportunites.
Great to hear that all is well with you. We're doing fine here ourselves. The travel and shopping limitations are getting a bit frustrating, however!
Take great care, and have a wonderful weekend yourselves - - - Richard
Swan chicks are cute.
ReplyDeleteYep - that's undeniable!
DeleteOh wow Richard I think these photos are amazing, all perfect and sharp. Thank you Lindsay for sending Richard in the right direction. There is only one dam near us that I can actually get to and I have walked around it twice in the past week. So disappointing, no birds not even a duck, and no damsels or dragons. Water skaters were the only living thing I could find!! Never mind the Little owls have been close by which is making me very happy.😊🦉🦉
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you both and have a great weekend. Stay safe, Diane
Some lakes formed by dams, can be quite sterile as far as wildlife is concerned, Diane, particularly modern ones as I get the impression that large areas are cleared during their construction. For damsels and dragons there usually needs to be some aquatic vegetation for the nymphs to climb up out of the water in order to shed their skins and turn into adults.
DeleteGreat to see you've been busy with that new lens!
Have a great weekend, and stay safe - - - Richard
Hello Richard, good to see you were able to go out again and not that far from home. Some amazing observations and photos you could make there. Those dragonflies are stunning.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Roos
Hi, Roos. I'm really enjoying having the confidence to go out again, although my choice of places is a little limited. Sadly, however, the weather has not been very helpful lately!
DeleteTake great care and stay safe - - - Richard
Hello Richard
ReplyDeleteI always thought you were taking these great pictures with a macro lens but as you wrote you used the Sigma 50-500, so you can be wrong but no matter which lens first-class pictures ... I think
Regards Frank
That Sigma 50-500 is an extremely versatile lens, Frank. I am very disappointed that Sigma no longer make this lens. I do have a Sigma 150 macro lens, but usually only use it for photographing insects in the garden at home or for indoor photography of moths.
DeleteBest wishes - stay safe - - - - Richard
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeletethat big red-eyed damselfly and that red-eyed damselfly are really beautiful to see. The whole pond is full of it here but haven't had time yet.
Also beautiful pictures of other damselfly and dragonflies and beautiful butterflies. Beautiful scoop and beautiful in color. My compliments for these beautiful and sharp photos. Funny to see the ducks in between hahahaha ...
I really enjoyed it again
Greetings, Helma