Sunday 25 September 2016

A 'Willow' Weekend

It feels like an age since I was last out looking and photographing dragonflies, what with work being quite busy and other family commitments, I have found it quite a challenge to get out in the fine weather we have been having. Having said that, this weekend along with a few other friends and family, we decided to camp at Nethergong where I hoped I might get the chance to have a wander around with the camera. Saturday dawned with some lovely weather and with some fishing planned with a friend, we were all set up at the lake at 7.30am where we spent about 5 hours catching a good number of Carp between us. As the day warmed up, I started to see a number of Willow Emerald Damselfly flying through our swim, many in tandem where they would land in the reeds. This continued for some time and I probably saw c20 Willow Emerald Damselfly. With the fishing slowing down for a while, I went and got the camera and was soon firing off a number of shots of these little stunners. With some good light for photography, I ended up with some pleasing efforts and it was also nice to share with others about the success story of this damselfly.






Willow Emerald Damselfly (male) 


 Willow Emerald Damselflies (pair in tandem) 

Although I have walked around the lake on numerous occasions, I have not encountered them here before so it was nice to see them in this area. I suspect if I looked through the other swims that I would have seen a similar pattern with them flying around in tandem. Also seen around the lake were quite a few Common Darter and a few Migrant Hawker with one male perching up nicely for a few photos.

Migrant Hawker (male)

Weather permitting, I am hoping to get a few more sessions in before the seasons slowly draws to a close. 

14 comments:

  1. Good to see you are still at it Marc :-) Lovely set of images. Only got Mixta's and Common Darts here now.

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    1. Cheers Warren. Still enough interest to keep me going still down here. Just a bit harder to find the time at the moment.

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  2. Excellent to see they are still in really good condition Marc. I bet you were glad the Carp stopped feeding!!

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    1. Cheers Bob. It gave me a good excuse to get away for a while. Well worth it in the lovely sunshine.

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  3. Fantastic. You are a dragonfly man.

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  4. More wonderful images of this splendid species, Marc. It's good to know they're still around.

    All I'm seeing round here recently are plenty of Migrant Hawkers, a few Southern Hawkers, and more numbers of Common Darter than I've ever seen before! There are still a few Common Blue Damsels around, but very thin on the ground - and that's about it!

    Have a good one - - - Richard

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    1. Cheers Richard. Getting more challenging now for photos but nice to have these to still photograph.

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  5. Sounds like the perfect antidote to the long work hours Marc. Beautiful series of shots too - really like how the colour of the reeds matches that of the Emeralds.

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    1. Many thanks Lucy. Always nice to have a clean background to work with.

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  6. Brilliant captures Marc,outstanding photography.
    John.

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  7. Gosh !!! Really great shots of this lovely Willow Spreadwing. I ehb unfortunately little seen this year, but that's because I have little to've been through the accident of my husband.
    Your photos are pretty sharp but also very beautiful bright color. My compliments.

    Greeting, Helma

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