Hanging Out With Some Damsels!

I treated myself to a small lay in this morning and got up at 6.30am where after getting ready I left for Reculver at 7am with the sun already shining. The plan this morning was to look inland at Reculver for some damselflies for a couple of hours and then drive over to Westbere Lakes to see what was on the wing over there. At Reculver I spent some time looking through the grasses for any emerging damselflies and despite finding a few exuvia I did not find any emerging. As it warmed up so the first damselflies took to the wing and in the next hour there were c70 Common Blue Damselfly which allowed me to get the camera out and get a few more shots. Armed with the monopod and Sigma 150mm macro lens I was able to get some more pleasing efforts and concentrate on background colours to show the damselflies off.

Teneral Common Blue Damselfly

Male Common Blue Damselfly

Also on the wing at Reculver where 3 Red eyed Damselflies allowing me to grab a few shots of this species before they mature and head out over the water, c10 Blue tailed Damselflies, 1 Azure Damselfly and 1 Hairy Dragonfly, the first time I have seen this species at this site.

Red eyed Damselfly

With the job done I drove over to Westbere and walked up to the river and back. The sun was now quite warm and around the entrance were good numbers of Variable, Blue tailed with a few Red eyed and 1 Large Red Damselfly. As I walked up to the river there must have been c200 Variable Damselflies easily, probably much more as they seemed to be everywhere. I ended up seeing 5 Large Red Damselfly, c10 Red eyed Damselfly, c30 Blue tailed Damselfly and 6 Hairy Dragonfly including 2 mating pairs which unfortunately flew off before I could get the camera on to them.

Blue tailed Damselfly

Still no sign of any Banded Demoiselle, Four spotted and Broad bodied Chaser but its a matter of time I expect before I bump into them. The Sigma and manfrotto combination seem to be working well at the moment with most shots working out nicely. No doubt not all the dragonflies will be so easy to see and get photos of as the season progresses but Iv'e no complaints at the moment. Plenty more shots taken today which I shall post as the week continues.

Blue tailed Damselfly 

Red eyed Damselfly