Sunday 9 July 2017

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)

I made another visit this morning to Nethergong where upon arrival at 6.45am, I spent a couple of hours walking through the long grasses next to the stream and checking the waterside vegetation for any emerging damselflies. There was some lovely early morning sunshine and a slight dew and after checking for a while, I found a few Blue tailed Damselflies at rest which provided the first photo opportunities of the day. I will post a few shots of these in due coarse. After a good check of the area, I managed to find 12 Willow Emerald Damselfly and spent some time taking a number of photos with their wings open before the sun slowly went in for some time. The morning however, belonged to the Emerald Damselfly. They seemed to be everywhere and I made a conservative estimate of about 50 over c100yards. I suspect if I walked further, I could easily double or triple this number. I was able to observe them mating and a few females were seen egg laying in stems at the water. Most of the time was spent finding a few males, females and immatures to photograph and I ended up with a few pleasing shots for my efforts. Other bits seen included 3 Brown Hawker, 6 Emperor Dragonfly, 1 Norfolk Hawker, 1 Black tailed Skimmer and Common, Variable, Azure and Blue tailed Damselfly. Hopefully back next weekend to check on the numbers of Willow Emerald and Emerald Damselfly. I shall post a few shots from the weekend during the next few days. 

Emerald Damselfly (female) 

Emerald Damselfly (immature female) 





Emerald Damselfly (male)

12 comments:

  1. Your photos are always so wonderful, but somehow that second one is simply enchanting with the sparkling dew drops and the soft colors in the background. A terrific set.

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    1. Many thanks Wilma for your kind words. Much appreciated. It's sometimes quite tricky to capture those colours but in the early morning sunshine, they are really set of quite well.

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  2. Fabulous to see Marc. Fantastic species.

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    1. Thanks Bob. They certainly are an interesting species and one that I intend to spend more time studying and photographing.

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  3. Well up to your usual amazing standard, Marc. Like Wilma, I too will nominate that second image as my favourite, and for the same reasons.

    Best wishes - - Richard

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    1. Many thanks Richard. They are quite a posing species from what I can work out. I'm sure there will be more to come.

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  4. cant complain with those lovely images Marc, no chance of those emeralds here!

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    1. Cheers Warren. They are quite a wandering species so you never know, they could appear in your area.

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  5. They are magnificent Marc, especially the last, beautiful.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Up close, they are indeed quite stunning. Nice to photograph, especially in the early morning light.

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  6. Wonderful Marc, I wish I could get my peregrine shots as sharp as that.

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    1. Many thanks Mike. You would if they were 10cm from your lens. Your Peregrine shots seem pretty good to me but with birds, you can never get near enough.

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