Pretty Things

After the past couple of posts, a return to slightly more pleasing images of local wildlife. The heat has restricted me to an extent; that, plus work has prevented too many long excursions into the countryside so today's were all taken close my office (which resembled an oven).

First are a couple of shots of an emperor dragonfly. She was behaving perfectly for once, and happily posed in an ornamental pond.

And when I was leaving this evening, one of the juvenile pied wagtails was patiently picking blackfly while waiting for the adult to bring more exotic food. It's still young enough not to be startled by the camera.

I was going to leave it at that, but I've persisted with taking 'doubles' to try to get a decent 3D image, and this one of a foxglove works quite well. I need to work a bit more on composition, but – if you can be bothered – enlarge the image and make yourself focus in front of the image (cross eyed). Holding a pin a few inches in front of your nose can help. This one stays quite stable once you can lock into it.

3d imageCick to enlarge
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Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens, except the foxglove which was taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.

This entry was posted in Birds, dragonfly, Uncategorized and tagged , , , .

12 Comments

  1. Dudley July 2, 2009 at 1:07 am #

    Great shots

  2. gdare July 2, 2009 at 5:07 am #

    It looks as pied wagtail is hiding under the leaf from a heat 😀

  3. Words July 2, 2009 at 7:07 am #

    Darko, I think it liked the shade. Sensible little bird 🙂

  4. Words July 2, 2009 at 7:07 am #

    Thanks Andy!

  5. annoushkiss July 2, 2009 at 11:07 am #

    Both dragonflies and wagtail shots are super :up: The last one is just amazing!

    Is it really hot in England..? Here we miss summer weather a lot 🙁

  6. SittingFox July 2, 2009 at 5:07 pm #

    Colourful all round, and that little wagtail is very cute 🙂

    I am somewhat looking forward to cooler weather, I have to say :ko:

  7. Ukwildlife July 2, 2009 at 11:07 pm #

    great wagtail photos, especially the last one. The emperors look great too

  8. Words July 3, 2009 at 12:07 am #

    Adele, thanks! I agree about the weather. It's too hot for me.

  9. Words July 3, 2009 at 12:07 am #

    Anna, thanks! I liked all the curves in the last wagtail shot. And yes, it's hot! About 30 degrees (and hotter indoors). 🙂

  10. Words July 3, 2009 at 12:07 am #

    Thanks Neil. The wagtails are an absolute delight!

  11. Flying Red Fox Blog July 3, 2009 at 6:07 am #

    Great photos and the Foxgloves look good too, 😀

  12. Words July 3, 2009 at 7:07 am #

    Thanks Mark!