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Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image Taken on 28 Sep 2021 at 11:07    Image of day on 06 Nov 2021

Darter Dragonflies are still about on sunny days. This one found a garden bench a good place to warm in the sunshine.


Ref: 20211106_d72_20210928_1107_110+1108_115 common darter dragonfly male basking on garden seat (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 27 Jul 2007 at 18:06    Image of day on 24 Aug 2007

The intricacy of the dragonfly head is amazing. Reflections from the multi-segment eye produces the gleaming patch.


Ref: 20070824_d01_20070727_1806_020 common darter dragonfly male head detail (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 01 Sep 2024 at 15:58    Image of day on 19 Oct 2024

This male Common Darter Dragonfly caught an eye perched on one of the mains cables on its final span from concrete pole to house. We don't have any reference to a similar sighting. The Dragonfly was behaving normally for a Darter - sitting quietly before leaping out to grab some, to us at the distance of perhaps 6 metres, invisible prey item, before returning to the same perch. When the perch is a stick or similar you can keep the camera firing images until the hoped for return, but hundreds of twists of copper wire look the same to both man and beast, and the Dragonfly never landed in the same place twice!


Ref: 20241019_d72_20240901_1558_089 common darter dragonfly male hunting from overhead mains cable(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 22 Jul 2019 at 16:07    Image of day on 10 Sep 2019

Our first Darter Dragonfly of the year - an immature male Common Darter.


Ref: 20190910_df3_20190722_1607_022 common darter dragonfly male immature (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 17 Sep 2010 at 12:34    Image of day on 08 Nov 2010

This image of a male of the same species is taken as a single exposure using a strobe light - a very fast flash with the shutter held open. 80Hz means 80 flashes a second, so the image below last for about 1/10th second. These have to be photographed against an extremely black background (typically 20 flashes hit it) and are not photo montages but made 'in the camera' with the images appearing to be transparent.


Ref: 20101108_da1_20100917_1234_018_ft1 common darter dragonfly male in flight strobe @ 80hz (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 16 Aug 2010 at 13:58    Image of day on 01 Oct 2010

A common darter dragonfly in flight. Darters dragonflies are intermediate in size between Damselflies and Hawker Dragonflies and you may spot them perching on overhanging pond side foliage, taking off and returning to the same spot.


Ref: 20101001_da1_20100816_1358_053+1544_157_ft1 common darter dragonfly male in flight with flag iris leaf (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 09 Sep 2020 at 17:38    Image of day on 20 Oct 2020

A magical moment at the time, and still is in this photo, as this Common Darter Dragonfly gently lands next to his shadow.


Ref: 20201020_d73_20200909_1738_105 common darter dragonfly male landing on corrugated iron with shadow 2 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 18 Aug 2014 at 12:45    Image of day on 26 Oct 2014

A Common Darter Dragonfly landing on a pondweed encrusted twig. The right hand image is moved right - it was making a more vertical landing than appears here.


Ref: 20141026_df2_20140818_1245_487+489- common darter dragonfly male landing on stick 1+3 of 3 (adjusted montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 15 Sep 2018 at 12:25    Image of day on 06 Nov 2018

A male Common Darter Dragonfly surveying the surroundings from the tip of a cut stinging nettle.


Ref: 20181106_df3_20180915_1225_018 common darter dragonfly male mature(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 18 Sep 2021 at 14:40    Image of day on 31 Oct 2021

Here is an apparently pristine male Common Darter Dragonfly warming himself in the fitful sunshine.


Ref: 20211031_d72_20210918_1440_226 common darter dragonfly male on cut hedge stem(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 29 Jul 2014 at 12:14    Image of day on 04 Oct 2014

Our pond side Dragonfly perch was knocked downward by some visitor - maybe a bird trying to land on it - and we reinstalled it (i.e. pushed in into a fresh bit of pond side mud). Almost immediately this male Common Darter Dragonfly changed his lookout post to make use of the new facility.
If you have a pond, try it yourself - a stick 45cm to 60cm long stuck in the edge sloping up over the water. It will mostly likely be adopted quickly by any Darter Dragonfly that visits your pond. If you don't have a pond - make even a tiny one!


Ref: 20141004_df2_20140729_1214_015 common darter dragonfly male on pond side twig (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 12 Aug 2023 at 12:52    Image of day on 09 Oct 2023

A male Common Darter Dragonfly on the cut tip of a Blackberry stem.
Darter Dragonflies are intermediate in size between Damselflies and Hawker Dragonflies and hunt in a different style to both.


Ref: 20231009_df3_20230812_1252_166 common darter dragonfly male on tip of cut blackberry stem(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 29 Aug 2018 at 15:40    Image of day on 19 Oct 2018

The corrugated iron sheet put down to attract snakes hasn't shown us one for months, But the warm white(ish) metal attracted this male Common Darter Dragonfly.


Ref: 20181019_df3_20180829_1540_060 common darter dragonfly male perched on corrugated iron sheet(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 30 Aug 2024 at 15:51    Image of day on 19 Oct 2024

A few hours later we see a male perched on a stick at a preferred angle.


Ref: 20241019_d72_20240830_1551_049 common darter dragonfly male perched on sloping twig(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 27 Aug 2013 at 09:50    Image of day on 28 Oct 2013

A male Common Darter dragonfly waits for the sun to warm him up. He is a hunter - not interested in the flowers for nectar.


Ref: 20131028_df1_20130827_0950_162 common darter dragonfly male perched on spent purple loosestrife (adjusted crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 21 Sep 2023 at 12:51    Image of day on 09 Nov 2023

This male Common Darter dragonfly perched on an old wood bench is busy sucking the juices from some unfortunate midge.


Ref: 20231109_df3_20230921_1251_080+1350_076 common darter dragonfly male perched on wooden bench eating midge 2+1 of 2 (montage+insert)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 18 Sep 2009 at 14:52    Image of day on 01 Nov 2009

This a montage of 5 images showing a common darter dragonfly taking off from a branch. The spacing of the first 3 is forced horizontally because they would overlap, but the vertical rise is accurately montaged.
The transition between still and having left the branch takes 66mS (2 frames at 30fps). Hooray for a camera that can store what happened before you press the button even if the quality is not 'premium'.


Ref: 20091101_cf1_20090918_1452_885-889 common darter dragonfly male vertical takeoff @ 30fps (vertically accurate montage of 2-6 of 7)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Sep 2013 at 12:22    Image of day on 04 Nov 2013

An old female Common darter dragonfly warms herself in the sun. The mouth (left) is slightly open.


Ref: 20131104_df1_20130904_1222_198 common darter dragonfly mature female (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Oct 2022 at 13:54    Image of day on 07 Nov 2022

Although the peak temperatures are dropping Common Darter Dragonflies still look for warm places (like this corrugated iron sheet).


Ref: 20221107_df3_20221004_1354_087 common darter dragonfly mature male (on corrugated iron sheet)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 30 Aug 2009 at 10:09    Image of day on 10 Oct 2009

This quite old female common darter dragonfly is very faded but in otherwise good condition and a good flyer.


Ref: 20091010_da1_20090830_1009_115+1014_134_ft1 common darter dragonfly over mature female in flight with hawthorn twig (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

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