Saturday 7 June 2014

Nailing the Norfolk!

After dropping my youngest daughter off at dance at 12.30pm, I had 90 minutes to myself so with East Blean Woods only a 2 minute drive away I thought I would spend mt time here hoping for some more views of the Norfolk Hawker. It had rained quite heavy just prior to my arrival but as I got out of the car the sun was out and it felt very warm. I spent some time around the car park seeing 2 Large Skipper, 2 Heath Fritillary, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and my first Meadow Brown of the year while 3 Common Darter were also on the wing. There was no sign of the Hawker so like yesterday I had a walk inside the woods to a sunny ride but again no luck. Moving on again I come to a large clearing where 10 Heath Fritillary were flying but no sign of any dragonflies. I opted for some butterfly shots when the Norfolk Hawker appeared and began to fly around catching insects. With the odd bit of cloud around, when the sun did disappear the Hawker looked for somewhere to land so watching this carefully I was able to see it land in amongst a log pile. Carefully approaching I could not see it at first but eventually scanning I picked it out and made my attempt to get some shots. It was not in the best position for a shot but using some cover I got into a better position and started firing away, despite at this point the wood ants eating my foot.

Norfolk Hawker

As the sun come through again it was off but this time only flew briefly before landing in a better position in the open. I went into stealth mode and managed to get quite near and take a number of shots, gradually moving nearer every few shots until I was only a few metres away. Its not the best background to a photo but I was treated to some lovely views up close of this rare dragonfly and very much enjoyed the experience.


Norfolk Hawker

I thought it was a male yesterday from my record attempts but from these better efforts I think its a female. With the sun out again she was off and I made my way back to the car, mission accomplished. Hopefully out in the morning where I might have a look for some Red veined Darter near Reculver, its supposed to be a lovely sunny day!


Norfolk Hawker

5 comments:

  1. Marc,
    So when can we expect the Marc Heath book of Odonata photographs to be published. You must be way ahead of anybody else now on the subject.

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    1. Many thanks for your kind words Derek, much appreciated. I think iv'e just found something that ticks all the boxes for me, the chance to study and photograph some fascinating insects, with the odd decent shot I hope in there.

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  2. That eye is just something else. A beautiful beast.

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  3. That's brilliant, Norfolk Hawker is bigger and better.

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  4. Brilliant macro from that lens Marc.The investment definitely paying big dividends.

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