Dazzling Demoiselles at Sunset

Anyone following my site over the past few years will know that I do like a sunrise and sunset shot and with the weather looking very good Tuesday night with sunshine and very light winds forecast, I decided to drive over to Nethergong to see whether I could find any Banded Demoiselles to photograph. After parking up at 7.15pm, I took a walk along the stream where in the sunshine, Banded Demoiselles could be seen flying in good numbers. I spent a while looking for likely areas that they would roost in and  taking a few practice photos to see how they might come out. I really like the challenge of these type of photo sessions and believe it or not, there is quite a lot of homework to be done prior to getting the camera out of the bag. Its not just a case of turning up and clicking away. Around 8pm and with the sun starting to go down and the temperature dropping ever so slightly, I started to notice a number of Demoiselles starting to think about roosting and within 10 minutes or so, none were flying and the challenge really began. With the clock now ticking quickly, I started looking for likely individuals roosting that would be suitable and with most in the reeds roosting, it was even more of a challenge to find a place where I wasn't going to get soaked. After what seemed an age, I soon found a few roosting on grass heads and started to move in position to set up. A few annoyingly flew off but with some slow steady movements, I was able to get into a good comfortable position to start photographing.

Banded Demoiselle (male) at Sunset

As most will know, the sun sets pretty quickly so it was a hectic time firing off a number of photos and as the sun got lower in the sky, the brilliant colours of the sunset really started to come through. I changed the angle of the shot every now and then to move the sun around in the shot and before I knew it, the sun was disappearing below the horizon.

Banded Demoiselle (male) at Sunset

As I sat peacefully in the fading light looking over a few photos I had taken, I soon become aware that a second Banded Demoiselle was walking up the grass stem to the top. This was an opportunity too good to miss and after they had settled, I fired off a few more photos of them. I just wish I had managed to get both of them together earlier with the sun setting in between them but thats maybe another challenge for anther day.

Banded Demoiselles (males) at Sunset

 After the manic hour, I sat there briefly just enjoying the peace of the countryside before walking back to the car and onwards home. A superb session and one that I always normally enjoy. Just me, nature, peace and a few lovely experiences and photos. Brilliant!