Saturday 8 April 2017

Early Broad bodied Chaser Emerges

With temperatures the past few days reaching 20 degrees celsius and tomorrow forecast to be even hotter, its probably been no surprise that a few species have emerged earlier than normal. I have been constantly monitoring the nymphs in my pond and in the past few days, have had a few Large Red Damselflies emerge but a check this morning produced a well grown Broad bodied Chaser nymph in the shallows looking like it was ready to emerge. Despite that the date seems very early, I didn't think it would emerge quite yet but as I checked this afternoon, I could see the nymph already in place on one of the reeds I had potted up in the pond. Still not totally sure that it was going to emerge, I hastily went and got the camera and tripod and started to set up in the hope I could capture the whole emergence. It couldn't have been a better afternoon to emerge in the back garden as there was little if any wind and the temperature was still very warm. The nymph took a while to settle which gave me the chance to rattle off a few shots and sort out the camera settings but eventually, I was treated to yet another superb emergence where I captured a number of pleasing photos. I shall take the dragonfly tomorrow morning to the site where I collected the nymph and release it there and hope that a few more emerge there in the next week or so. I am hoping in the next week or so to hopefully have a Hairy Dragonfly emerge from the pond. I have seen a few well marked individuals which look like they are nearly ready and really look forward to the challenge of photographing the emergence during the hours of darkness of one of my favorite species. 











'Emerging' Broad bodied Chaser (female)

8 comments:

  1. Oh, didn't you do so well, beautiful images.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Certainly a nice way to spend a warm afternoon outside.

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  2. What a privilege to witness! Amazing photos. I love that the background in the last shot has some subtle features and isn't just green blah-ness. It really sets off the details of the chaser.

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    1. Many thanks Wilma. The reeds in the background work well I think. A good start to the season with the camera I think. Hope it continues.

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  3. Absolutely brilliant,would love to witness Emerging Dragonfly,you are very lucky,we cleaned our small pond yesterday,and noticed a small Nymph on the surface,not sure what it is,but I managed to place a climbing stick near by.
    So I will be waiting,and hopping for a nice surprise.
    John.

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    1. Many thanks John for your kind words. If you are patient and time it right, it's amazing to watch.A real pleasure of nature.

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  4. Another of your fabulous sequences, Marc. Don't be put off by Monsieur M - I suspect a touch of jealousy on his part. I know of nobody else that gives us such an amazing insight into the world of dragonflies as you do!

    Keep up the good work - - - Richard

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    1. Many thanks Richard for your kind words, much appreciated. I don't think he meant to cause any upset, just a mix up of words which were confused through translation. Its certainly a privilege to watch and photograph an emergence. Keep your eyes peeled and see if you can find and photograph one yourself. It's happening all around us.

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