Flying Migrants

Anyone into their dragonfly photography will tell you that its a big challenge to capture most dragonflies in flight and with some species, almost impossible. However, there are a few species that with a bit of patience and many shots taken, are possible to capture in flight well. One species that often cooperates is the Migrant Hawker and thankfully every autumn, they provide a good challenge and test the photographer, often to the point of frustration. I have spent many hours trying to capture this species in flight and so far my shots vary from 'quite pleasing' to 'another one to delete'! I have struggled this year to capture a nice clean detailed shot with clean background, the dragonfly at a nice angle and perfect lighting but trawling through the archives provided me with a few shots that inspire me to continue this challenge and see what I can achieve. On another theme, when I returned home from work tonight, my eldest daughter come up to me and showed me a photo she had taken this morning on her phone of a dragonfly on the path just around the corner where we live. To my amazement, it was an immature male Red veined Darter. I have seen them at a site about a mile away and wonder whether it has appeared from there, a good chance I suspect. Maybe the weekend will deliver a chance of a Migrant Hawker in flight shot but I just hope for some nice weather and light winds where I should be able to capture a few shots of the dragonflies which remain on the wing. 

Migrant Hawker (male)