With the day mostly spent in yesterday I was keen to get out and have a look what I could find on the dragonfly front, the weather however had other ideas. Heavy showers were forecast in between odd glimpses of sunshine so I risked it and drove over to a site south of Reculver to have a look. Despite the lack of any sunshine and the sky looking quite depressing I found a good number of species including c80 Emerald Damselfly, the most I think I have seen at this site, 4 Four spotted Chaser, 3 Black tailed Skimmer, 3 male Ruddy Darter, c30 Common Darter, 1 female Scarce Emerald Damselfly still here but I continue to not find and males of this species and hundreds of Common Blue Damselfly. With a bit of time to spare I drove over to Marshside to see if I could find and Willow Emerald Damselfly. After parking up I soon found one and a few minutes later the heavens opened up and within seconds I was soaked running back to the car. Thankfully I only live a few minutes away so not long after I was dry and having a cuppa. I kept my eye on the weather and mid afternoon some blue sky appeared tempting me and the camera back out for another go with the Willows. Again I wandered around briefly again and managed to find c10 Willow Emerald Damselfly, all in superb fresh condition and with the sun shining for half an hour I took the opportunity and fired off a few pleasing shots of this still nationally rare damselfly. With the sky turning black again I left them in peace noting a few Small Red eyed Damselfly on the way back along with 1 female Emperor Dragonfly, 1 Southern Hawker and good number of Common Blue and Blue tailed Damselfly. Weather permitting I shall try to return if possible after work this week to see if there numbers continue to rise. Plenty more shots can be viewed on my new website by clicking HERE .
Male Willow Emerald Damselfly
Female Willow Emerald Damselfly
Perfection Marc.
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly getting great backgrounds now that really enhance the photos.
ReplyDeleteStunning photography, Marc. What equipment do you use, please?
ReplyDeleteA Canon 50d with a Sigma 150mm macro lens and when I cannot get near a Canon f4 300mm lens. Seems to work quite well.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the hard thought thats gone into getting those images just right Marc, some great positioning, do you carry scissors to cut away the background clutter!! :-)
ReplyDeleteScissors! Iv'e got a whole gardening kit in the back of the car for all occasions, never forget the glue though!!
DeleteGreat shots.
ReplyDeleteA southern migrant hawker has turned up at Chafford Gorges, Essex. Might be worth checking the Kent side of the Thames too ! :)