In Hairy Heaven!

With so much of my time being spent in the garden recently and watching the pond, it was no surprise that a few nights ago, I found one of the introduced Hairy Dragonfly nymphs in the shallows clinging to one of the reed stems. I decided that I would keep a close eye on it each night and see whether I could photograph it emerging. As I have mentioned before, I usually plant a few sticks and reed stems in pots that can then be moved for photographic purposes. This mostly helps with achieving a clutter free background. I decided on this occasion that it would be really nice to try to photograph the emergence with a backdrop of Grape Hyacinths, something I have done quite successfully with my recent Large Red Damselfly photos. I went in search of an ideal emergent stick which was soon found and potted up and then took a few practice photos in front of the Grape Hyacinths to see how the shots may come out. It was then a case of hoping all the factors were in my favour when the nymph decided to emerge. Most of my experience with this species emerging has been at night but a few have emerged in the early morning so I was going to have to be on call all day and night really. A few nights ago I went out with the torch and found the nymph resting up on a stem so carefully moved it to the stick I had placed in position. This could have gone horribly wrong but thankfully the nymph soon clung on and was again resting with its head and back of thorax clear of the water. With my target in position, it was now a case of continually checking especially just after dark and early morning. Last night (Tuesday) I was pretty confident it would emerge so set up the camera and tripod in position and kept on checking until around 11pm but no movement. I was up a few times in the night where I went out to the pond but still, the nymph stayed in position. It wasn't until this morning with the sun out and light winds that the nymph started the climb to the top of the stem and in particular, took a liking to the small forty five degree angle stick I hoped it would choose. I stayed well back at this stage and let the nymph settle down and go through the motions before I then moved in slowly with all the gear. I then waited in anticipation for what has to be one of the best mostly unseen sight in nature. The next ninety minutes were then spent photographing each stage of the emergence which thankfully all went well. It was nice to then see the male Hairy Dragonfly make its maiden flight to the nearby trees where hopefully it will mature up. The planning had all paid off and while the photos are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I must say that I am really pleased with them. Hopefully I will get to see this species in the coming weeks but if not, it was an absolute pleasure spending time in the company of this stunning dragonfly.

 

Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) - male emerging