Thursday 5 April 2018

First Large Red Damselfly Emerges

Having been monitoring the Large Red Damselfly nymphs in my pond by torchlight the past few nights, I knew a few were close to emerging as I had seen them near the surface but little did I know that yesterday (Wednesday) after I had returned from a dipping session at Grove Ferry, that one Large Red Damselfly had emerged during the morning and was sitting at the base of the stems near its exuviae. It had been a pleasantly warm day and with the garden quite sheltered, it no doubt felt quite pleasant out there. I spent some time yesterday afternoon and this morning taking a few photos in the sunshine where initially this morning, the damselfly was found at the side of the pond in between some Grape Hyacinth plants which made for a nice contrast in colour. Later this afternoon, the Large Red Damselfly had moved higher up and was posing nicely on some stems which allowed me to lay on the grass at the pond and take a few more photos. Its been a while since I have taken a few photos of the damselflies so it may take me a few sessions to get back into the groove and produce a few quality images but I was quite pleased with the efforts. Hopefully, with another week off work and some warmer sunnier weather forecast, I will be able to keep an eye on whether any more will emerge and maybe if I'm lucky, photograph an emergence of this species. Its been a long winter waiting, but finally, the season has begun for me. Roll on the busy times!
 





Large Red Damselfly (female) 

Large Red Damselfly Exuviae


10 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning Marc, I've to have it on my wall.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Lovely to see them again. Hopefully some more good weather so others will emerge soon.

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  2. Fantastic to see, up here in Scotland, will be a few weeks yet

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    1. Many thanks Paul for your visit and comment. This one seems to have emerged slightly earlier than the rest. The others are just colouring up nicely and should start emerging in a few days hopefully. No doubt the weather will have other ideas.

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  3. Ready to face the world above the water.

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    1. Yes indeed. It must be weird surely for them having lived a few years under the water. The thrill though of have vs wings must be awesome.

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  4. A great start Marc. Interesting that the first one out is a female.

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    1. Thanks Bob. This one does seem a little ahead of the others. The others are just colouring up nicely. It wouldn't be the first time the women are ahead of the game.

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  5. That's a brilliant start to the season, Marc. Wonderfully detailed shots, and the colour of the Grape Hyacinth sets those shots off very nicely. I hope that we're not too far behind you this year - fingers are crossed!

    Best wishes - - - Richard

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    1. Many thanks Richard. It made for a nice background to the shot.

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