Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 9

Image Taken on 02 Jun 2024 at 15:39 Image of day on 30 Jun 2024

A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly showing us his wings nicely spread. Damselflies perch with their wings aligned along their abdomens, but some occasionally flick their wings open and closed while perched.

Ref: 20240630_r70_20240602_1539_078 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male with wings spread(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 22 May 2023 at 15:50 Image of day on 11 Jul 2023

Perched Demoiselle Damselflies normally perch with all four wings aligned to produce a rather dark effect. This female Beautiful was repeatedly flicking her wings providing an opportunity to appreciate the subtle colour of mixed overlaps.

Ref: 20230711_df3_20230522_1550_013 beautiful demoiselle damselfly occasionally fluttering wings(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 07 Jul 2026 at 12:51 Image of day on 31 Aug 2026

'In the field' it can be hard to tell apart female Beautiful Demoiselles and Banded Demoiselles. But the wings colours and other details in these images leads us to believe that these two female Demoiselles are, Here, a Beautiful Demoiselle ...

Ref: 20260831_r52_20260707_1251_034 beautiful demoiselle female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 20 Jun 2026 at 12:51 Image of day on 08 Aug 2026

Possibly our last Photo of a Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly this year, in this case a female with the iridescent body. This and the Banded Demoiseele the the largest UK species with body length about 45mm (1.75 inches)
Not a single Banded Demoiselle seen this year so far, and probably now absent this year.

Ref: 20260808_r80_20260620_1251_115 beautiful demoiselle female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 02 Jul 2022 at 11:21 Image of day on 20 Aug 2022

An unexpected find of a female Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly long after most of them have 'gone'. The Damselfly's wings are as undamaged as ever.

Ref: 20220820_df3_20220702_1121_147 beautiful demoiselle female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 19 May 2014 at 17:43 Image of day on 24 Jul 2014

Our North boundary hedge has for a few years yielded the delight of fluttering Demoiselle Damselflies as you walk down it for a week or two each year. The Banded Demoiselle has been the mainstay for a few years, but this year the Beautiful Demoiselle is so far the only arrival - and beautiful fits the creature.
This is the female - we see far less of these than the girl-hunting males!

Ref: 20140724_df2_20140519_1743_227 beautiful demoiselle female(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 27 May 2019 at 10:17 Image of day on 30 Jun 2019

Finally female Beautiful Demoiselle on the left and male on the right.
NOT EXACT SCALE - Don't read anything into the slightly different sizes.

Ref: 20190630_df5_20190527_1017_020+1010_015 beautiful demoiselle female (left) and male (right) (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 21 May 2014 at 10:47 Image of day on 24 Jul 2014

Here is one of the male Beautiful Demoiselles living up to his name.

Ref: 20140724_df2_20140521_1047_275 beautiful demoiselle male (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 22 May 2019 at 13:40 Image of day on 22 Jun 2019

Our first Odonata (Dragonfly family) of the year was this delightful male 'Beautiful Demoiselle'. This is a big insect for the UK - length about 50mm (2 inches) and in flight has a characteristic slow fluttering wing beat.

Ref: 20190622_df5_20190522_1340_147 beautiful demoiselle male (first of 2019) (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 25 Jul 2019 at 12:00 Image of day on 14 Sep 2019

Out first sighting for several years of a Black-tailed Skimmer spotted on what is nominally a bird perch stick outside the living room and photographed through the window. We unusually see blue pruinescence on the underside of the insect.

Ref: 20190914_df5_20190725_1200_002 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 25 Jul 2019 at 13:21 Image of day on 14 Sep 2019

A trip round the outside of the house sneaked a pic from the other side shows the conventional appearance from the top with no trace of blue pruinescence.
There is uncertainty about the status of this insect - a juvenile male or a female.

Ref: 20190914_df5_20190725_1321_022 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 25 Jul 2019 at 12:03 Image of day on 14 Sep 2019

Just to be sure that these pics are different sides of the same Black-tailed Skimmer, here is a side view taken while approaching for the first attempt to photograph the 'top' that clearly shows the blue underside and Yellow + Back top. It flew away on this occasion, but returned about an hour later.

Ref: 20190914_df5_20190725_1203_016 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 24 Jun 2020 at 07:54 Image of day on 31 Jul 2020

At the corner of the farmer's crop this female Black-tailed skimmer Dragonfly teased us by landing briefly at various sites.

Ref: 20200731_d73_20200624_0754_107 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly female in wheat crop(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 24 Jun 2020 at 07:55 Image of day on 31 Jul 2020

At the corner of the farmer's crop this female Black-tailed skimmer Dragonfly teased us by landing briefly at various sites.

Ref: 20200731_d73_20200624_0755_111 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly female in wheat crop (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 29 May 2020 at 15:58 Image of day on 01 Jul 2020

This immaculate female Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly spent several minutes fluttering around the 'garden' near the house.

Ref: 20200701_d73_20200529_1558_158 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly female perched on grass stem (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 29 May 2020 at 16:03 Image of day on 01 Jul 2020

This immaculate female Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly spent several minutes fluttering around the 'garden' near the house.

Ref: 20200701_d73_20200529_1603_200 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly female perched on hedging(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 29 May 2020 at 16:00 Image of day on 01 Jul 2020

This immaculate female Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly spent several minutes fluttering around the 'garden' near the house.

Ref: 20200701_d73_20200529_1600_185 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly female perched on nettle stem(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 26 Jun 2026 at 12:57 Image of day on 19 Aug 2026

A male Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly.
It is a medium sized Dragonfly with body length about 47mm. The Blue back is called pruinescence - a sort of powder that gets rubbed off by contact with foliage and during mating.

Ref: 20260819_r52_20260626_1257_086 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly male(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 26 Jun 2026 at 12:58 Image of day on 19 Aug 2026

The same male Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly now flown to a Yellow Flag Iris leaf frond

Ref: 20260819_r52_20260626_1258_100 black-tailed skimmer dragonfly male (orig)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 11 Jul 2015 at 09:22 Image of day on 12 Sep 2015

This Black-tailed skimmer Dragonfly (an immature male judging by details visible in the original images, and our first sighting of this species on our patch) appeared before us, flew around the pond edge and reappeared on this Iris leaf with mandibles full of an unfortunate moth. A few minutes later we spotted the Dragonfly on a spent Buddleia flower head across the pond, and we moved round to the other side for the final image (hence different lighting). Blended into the right of the bottom image is an approximately camera resolution detail from the top right image.
Times are Top left 09:22, Right 09:24, Bottom 09:31

Ref: 20150912_df3_20150711_0922_105+0924_115+0931_224 black-tailed skimmer male immature dragonfly who caught and ate moth at main pond 01+03+10 of 10 (montage with detail)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

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