Wednesday 19 September 2012

The Unexpected Finally Happens

The forecast was for bright sunshine today but although the sun did appear on a number of occasions it remained quite cloudy for most of the day. I decided after work to drive over to Reculver to once again see what dragonflies I could find and photograph. There appears to only be a handful of Common Blue damselflies on the wing now but Migrant Hawker numbers still remain quite good when the weather conditions are right. I have seen a few photos in the last few months of damselflies taken hiding behind stems with both of their eyes sticking out either side. It certainly looks quite spectacular and I have always been on the look out for this opportunity. I arrived at Reculver where it was mostly cloudy with occasional sun and set about trying to find a few dragonflies. I soon saw 3 Migrant Hawker flying around and a scan of the grasses revealed 7 Common Blue damselflies. I took a few shots as ever and moved on to see what I could find. As I scanned the grass I saw a single Common Blue damselfly moving slowly up a thin stem. Could this be my chance. I got on to my hands and knees and luckily got a good angle on the damselfly which gave the view I have been looking for. I spent the next 30 minutes on my belly taking a number of shots as it slowly moved up the stem and thankfully the sun made an appearance making for a few pleasing images. As it warmed up it flew off eventually leaving me with with a fantastic experience and another load of shots in the bag. I had not expected much tonight with quite a strong breeze and cloud but it certainly turned out to be a good and worthwhile visit.


21 comments:

  1. Never seen anything like these in my life before. You can be very proud of them Marc, congratulations on such a success with macro photography.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marc, stunning shots, never seen the like.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The eyes are fabulous and so surreal!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, those are unbelievable, Marc! Truly fantastic shots! Like the others said, I've never seen photos like them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marc ,
    Really cracking macro shots .
    Worthy competition winners .

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really like those shots mate, excellent work!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fantastic shots Marc

    A reward for the many hours you put in

    ReplyDelete
  8. Uffffff... marvelous!!!!
    Espectacular shots!!!

    Hugs and love from Brasil.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your perception should be rewarded by someone, somewhere. Get them entered somewhere, anywhere. Have been doing macro myself for six months or so and these will spur me on.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You are an artist, the pictures are superb, cheers Marc.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you all for the comments. These are pretty special photos to me and show that if you keep at it you normally get your opportunity to get those shots.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Marc.I can only echo what has been said above...these are absolutely unique and brilliant shots. Definite prizewinners..well done

    ReplyDelete
  13. Absolutely brilliant Marc. You should start a competition for the best caption to accompany the pics.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great macro shots, really impressive!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hola Marc fantasticas imagenes.Un saludo.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Amazing shots - what a thrill it must have been to get them - and well deserved too! I agree - get them out there and seen!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You're probably bored with hearing the same comments every time, even in Spanish(!), but they are very good, Mark. One of my jobs is as a magazine designer so I'm always on the look out for great photos - just not in birding unfortunately! The top one of the two is the best one. I reckon it's one of your best of the year - composition is everything when the picture quality is great.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Absolutely love these shots!!! Truly amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great shots!
    The kind I love, though they make one squint!
    Amazing sharpness too!
    congrats!

    ReplyDelete