A post in two halves, so to speak. Last night I posted a damselfly nymph which looked on the verge of emergence. The good thing about nymphs in this state is that they tend to stay put, and sure enough they were there this morning. Only they'd undressed over night! The discarded exo-skeleton (exuvia) can be seen in both shots.
This next shot was taken later in the day. It's a blue damsel.
Click here to enlarge
The rest of this post is dedicated to the birds, starting with the most recent summer arrival: the swift. They are unmistakeable as they hunt on the wing, catching literally thousands of insects a day as they swirl high overhead with incredible aerial agility.
There were also skylarks, filling the air with their shrill song.
And whitethroats. They seem to be everywhere this year (we've even had one in garden a few days ago). I'm even beginning to recognize their call.
To close a couple more shots of birds (well, three to be precise). Both are raptors… inevitably there's a kestrel.
And a sparrowhawk. There were a couple flying around overhead, though neither came particularly close. It did, however, clear the sky of swifts for a while.
More trail cam footage of the fox cub tomorrow, and some dawn footage of what I take to be the parents.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D. The damsels were taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens; the brids were photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
gdare
10 May 2011I didn`t know they go through that metamorphosis and have exo-skeleton :left: A lot of things to learn about them *nods*
SittingFox
10 May 2011Great shots of the nymph growing up!
I'll have to look for whitethroats myself. I have seen them around here but not for several years.
Nice to see the sparrowhawk!
Words
10 May 2011Erwin, thanks!
Words
10 May 2011Darko, yes dragonflies and damselflies go through a big transformation, but they spend more of their life in the water as a nymph. The beautiful adult stage is very brief.
Words
10 May 2011Adele, thanks. With more patience (and getting up earlier) I may have been able to capture more of the process. It'll probably have to wait until next year now! The whitethroats are absolutely everywhere round here at the moment.
Ukwildlife
10 May 2011Excellent photos!
SmartWoman
11 May 2011Second from bottom… so beauty photo!
Words
12 May 2011Neil, thanks!
Words
12 May 2011SmartWoman, thanks!
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Lovely Shots