After yesterdays post showing how close the Large Red Damselfly nymph was to emerging, I was keen to get up early this morning in case I missed any action. On checking about 8am, the nymph was still sitting on top of the weed near the stem I put in for it to emerge on. I checked throughout the next hour or so and mid morning the sun come out and warmed up conservatory where I have moved the tank too. Well what happened next was both brilliant and frustrating. I had been doing a few house chores and happened to look out at the tank to see the nymph already half way up. Like an expected dad, I went into panic mode and got the camera set up. Very frustratingly, it had decided to stop so through my viewfinder I could see the black border on the tank, ahhhhhh! This did not make for a nice shot but I took a few anyway. To make things more awkward, as it emerged the exuvia decided to swing upside down causing the damselfly to emerge upside down. Not the vision I had in mind for my shots but I will hopefully have a few attempts with more emerging.
Large Red Damselfly Emerging
As it fully emerged and pulled itself up onto the stem, the exuvia fell off on to the floor and I then spent some time taking a few photos as the wings started to open up.
'Newly Emerged' Large Red Damselfly
It was superb watching this all happen in front of me and with the brown background making for some shots, I carefully took the tank into the garden and layed it on the grass where I wanted to see how the green background would work with the shots. I took a few more photos and by now the wings had pumped up and the colour was starting to darken on the thorax and abdomen.
Large Red Damselfly
With a number of photos taken I took it back inside and left it for a while to rest up before later on returning it back to its original pond at Westbere where I found the nymphs. Hopefully in a few days there will hopefully be a few more emerging for it to join.
'Newly Emerged' Large Red Damselfly
In concluding my efforts today, I would welcome any feedback on whether the green or brown background works best. I'm thinking the green looks more natural and may have to hatch a plan to keep the tank outside from now on and have the camera at the ready to capture those shots of the emergence I am after with a subtle green background. Despite a few nice shots, plenty of room for improvement I think but a great experience to witness at close quarters. I shall await the next one hopefully soon!
Large Red Damselfly
Wowee, you got that one right on, you're a great photographer Marc.
ReplyDeleteSuperb, I prefer green but can't you use any coloured paper as a backdrop?
ReplyDeleteI read in "Dragonflies of Kent" that the flight period for Large Reds is late June to Sept., is there much hope of this one surviving out in the cold.
ReplyDeleteI saw my first last year in the first week of April and they were recorded on the British Dragonfly Society website from the end of March so the emergence date is fine. Hopefully he will make it,fingers crossed.
DeleteCloser inspection of the photos and I noticed that the stem that the damsel is on has a number of brown scale insects stuck to it, a sap-sucking garden pest.
ReplyDeleteI had'nt noticed that Derek. I will have to look closer. With the weather climate warming up, it seems a lot of odonata emerge earlier than they used to.
DeleteSuperb images Marc, you're doing a grand job of showing us the otherwise unseen aspects of the complicated life cycle of these remarkable creatures. Can't wait for the next installment!...keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteOh!...it's Green, I think...[;o)
Many thanks for your kind words, much appreciated.
DeleteMarc,
ReplyDeletefascinating stuff!
I prefer the green to the light brown backround, but maybe a bit of experimentation with different colours would find the best combination.
Wouldn't photographing macro stuff be so much easier if we could have lenses with large depth of fields at large apertures!
Indeed it would Warren, life would be much easier. I will have an experiment with the colours. What I have worked out is that the colour chosen often does not come out on the camera like it looks in real life.
DeleteA big well done Marc,brilliant to see,
ReplyDeletemany thanks for showing us their world up close.
John.
Just fabulous!
ReplyDeleteImpressive emergence of the species!
We are still far from this in the south of France.
I can only see the Winter damselfly around my lake at this time of the year.
I tried to take some pics yesterday but I lost the hand with the Sigma 150 macro!!
Enjoy this Easter weekend, Marc :)