An hour by the pond at lunchtime proved an hour well spent. I'd gone in search of these.
Broad bodied chaser dragonfly (female)
I could watch them, literally, for hours as they criss-cross the pond. The males (blue) are in constant motion. The females are much easier subjects as they hover over one spot to lay their eggs (ovipositing).
Unfortunately I wasn't the only one out looking for dragonflies. I was joined by this hunter.
Crow with broad bodied chaser
Followed by a long drink
As well as the chasers, the damselflies were busy making more damselflies. If you look carefully just beyond the active pair, you can see a new damselfly (pale pink colour) emerging.
There's a smaller, ornamental, pond by my office. It's a haze of damselflies (mainly blue ones), and a happy hunting ground for the delicate pied wagtails.
Pied wagtail hunting damselflies
Success!
It's impossible to end a post without at least one fox cub photo… so here's a three fox cub photo 😉
Camera note: all day shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox cubs were photographed with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.
17 Comments
haha – the disappearing dragonflies reminds me of the when I was photographing black tailed skimmers at rainham marshes trying to get one hovering over the water, only to see a splash through the lens followed by a the smiling face of a marsh frog that had swallowed it whole!
Neil, that must have been a great moment! Did you capture it on camera? Otherwise a 'missed opportunity' of magnificent proportions.
Wow, what a way to spend your lunchtime – time well spent!
Wonderful action shots
Especially loved the second photo. :up:
I bet it was the same crow that ate that butterfly. He is following you, knowing there will be some food in your vicinity :insane:
😆
Very nice especially the water and flowers one.:D
Darko, I'm sure it's the same crow. Greedy thing, but very good at doing what it does :yuck:
Andy, thanks!
Deb, those dragonflies are so good to photograph. They make it easy. I just sit still, line up the camera and keep taking shots. Every now and then I get one or two decent ones!
Erwin, thanks!
Vulpes, it's an ideal spot, and when the weather's nice it's just about perfect!
Mark, thanks! I'm not sure what the flowers are, but they're native wild flowers.
Excellent shots! And if it helps, at least you haven't been watching ground squirrels busily munching on the road-killed remains of their former neighbours :yuck:
I'm oddly not squeamish with wildlife, though if I cut myself I … :faint:
Originally posted by SittingFox:
Beautiful action shots