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)
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.
ReplyDeleteMany 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.
DeleteFabulous to see Marc. Fantastic species.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob. They certainly are an interesting species and one that I intend to spend more time studying and photographing.
DeleteWell up to your usual amazing standard, Marc. Like Wilma, I too will nominate that second image as my favourite, and for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes - - Richard
Many thanks Richard. They are quite a posing species from what I can work out. I'm sure there will be more to come.
Deletecant complain with those lovely images Marc, no chance of those emeralds here!
ReplyDeleteCheers Warren. They are quite a wandering species so you never know, they could appear in your area.
DeleteThey are magnificent Marc, especially the last, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Bob. Up close, they are indeed quite stunning. Nice to photograph, especially in the early morning light.
DeleteWonderful Marc, I wish I could get my peregrine shots as sharp as that.
ReplyDeleteMany 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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