Tuesday 1 March 2016

Coming To A Pond Near You......Soon!

With March arriving today, its now only about 4 or 5 weeks weather permitting until we hopefully get the first emerging damselflies of the season and after that, the season will soon pick up pace. The first to arrive in this country is the Large Red Damselfly and like last year, I hope to photograph some emerging, a truly fascinating sight to watch and one I suspect, that the majority of the population have never seen or even are aware of. I have reared a couple through during the winter in my pond outside and in my indoor tank and a look a few days ago saw one starting to get its red abdomen which can be seen through the larval skin. As the next few weeks pass by, I would imagine they will start to get more red in the abdomen and venture to the surface more where they will start the process of breathing in air. I watched this last year and at times, they were fully free of the water and crawling around over the pond weed. You know this is a sure sign that the emergence is very close. After a long winter, its a great sight to see the first damselfly emerge and fly off to hopefully complete the cycle. Like the last couple of years, i'm really looking forward to this season and its challenges and I hope the camera will be able to share with you some of the photos I obtain through the season. To kick off, here are a few close posing Large Red Damselfly shots I have taken in the last couple of years. 




Large Red Damselfly

7 comments:

  1. It won't be long as you say Marc. Love the close up of those eyes. Terrific shots.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. One last clean of the camera and lenses and I think we're ready!

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  2. Wow, those eyes. Fabulous images Marc.

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  3. Thanks for the 'heads up' Marc. I'm waiting with eager anticipation! Those eyes on the Large Red are amazing. I had, of course, seen the stripes before, but never seen the face in such close-up detail. Wonderful!!

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