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Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 19
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2026
at 12:49 Image of day on 25 Oct 2026
This Common Darter Dragonfly is a male.
He is perched on a sheet of Corrugated Iron that warm quickly once the sun emerges.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20261025_r52_20260903_1249_027 common darter dragonfly male on sun-warmed corrugated iron (crop 1)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2026
at 12:49 Image of day on 25 Oct 2026
More detail of the male Common Darter Dragonfly
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20261025_r52_20260903_1249_027 common darter dragonfly male on sun-warmed corrugated iron (crop 2)(r+mb id@768).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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
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.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
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'.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
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.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
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).
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
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.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
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
Image Taken on 06 Oct 2022
at 09:41 Image of day on 07 Nov 2022
This over-mature Common Darter Dragonfly surprised us before 10 a.m. on
the warm east wall of the house, in the sunshine and sheltered from a
cold and fierce wind from the west.
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Ref: 20221107_d72_20221006_0941_006 common darter dragonfly over-mature female warming on east wall of house(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Sep 2020
at 16:20 Image of day on 20 Oct 2020
Sunning itself on a piece of Corrugated Iron, this Common Darter Dragonfly
shows the wing structure well against the weathered metal.
.jpg)
Ref: 20201020_df3_20200906_1620_023 common darter dragonfly perched in weak sunshine on corrugated iron sheet(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Aug 2017
at 13:36 Image of day on 11 Oct 2017
Out first Darter Dragonfly of 2017 is appropriately a 'Common Darter', here
perched on the leaves of the Dogwood that dominates the island of the duck-shaped pond
looking for something to hunt and something to mate with.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20171011_df3_20170825_1336_004 common darter dragonfly perched on dogwood at duck-shaped pond (orig)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Aug 2014
at 10:19 Image of day on 19 Oct 2014
This is the Common Darter dragonfly, perched above a Hop sedge
cluster of seed heads. Look at the subtle colouration.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20141019_df2_20140808_1019_165 common darter dragonfly perched on hop sedge (crop 2)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Aug 2016
at 14:36 Image of day on 29 Sep 2016
The Common Darter Dragonfly finally decided to sun itself on this seed head.
.jpg)
Ref: 20160929_df3_20160806_1436_187 common darter dragonfly perched on seed head(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 07 Aug 2008
at 15:32 Image of day on 20 Aug 2008
... and from the same frame extreme detail of the eye.
We have never noticed before that the eyes not only have two
separately coloured areas, but these areas have different
'honeycomb' sizes and curvatures, presumably with different
optical characteristics. You could spend a lifetime researching
these amazing creatures so little changed from fossils millions
of years old.
.jpg)
Ref: 20080820_da1_20080807_1532_023 common darter female 2 eye detail(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 07 Aug 2008
at 15:32 Image of day on 20 Aug 2008
A minute or so before the above it was on a stone where we took this
close-up of the head and thorax.
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Ref: 20080820_da1_20080807_1532_023 common darter female 2 head & thorax detail(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 07 Aug 2008
at 15:33 Image of day on 20 Aug 2008
A female Common Darter dragonfly warming herself on the back of a
garden seat, positioned herself vertically to catch the
sunshine. A newsletter recipient tells us this is called the
obelisk position, normally used at midday
to keep cool.
.jpg)
Ref: 20080820_da1_20080807_1533_047 common darter female 2 positioning herself to warm in the sun(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2021
at 13:31 Image of day on 19 Oct 2021
After a slow start we have been seeing quite a lot of Hawker and (here) Darter Dragonflies.
Hawker Dragonflies generally fly about catching prey as they go, but Darter Dragonflies
choose a well placed stick end where they wait for some suitable midge to fly by, dart out
to catch it, and then (the useful bit for a photographer) often return to exactly the same perch
a few seconds later. Here this one returns - over the 300mS of the left 3 pics the legs move
from full folded for flight to fully extended for landing.
Undercarriage Down!
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20211019_df3_20210905_1331_172-174+176 common darter female flying to land on top of stem 1-3+5 of 5 (spread montage @7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
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