Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 21

Image Taken on 21 Aug 2011 at 14:36 Image of day on 10 Oct 2011

A male Ruddy Darter kept bothering the pair - he probably thought the female was 'suitable' for his amorous attentions - we all know what lads are like! Each time the pair landed on the stick along he would come and disturb them.

Ref: 20111010_df1_20110821_1436_102 mating pair of common darter dragonflies harassed by ruddy darter dragonfly male 2 of 8 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 15 Sep 2021 at 13:04 Image of day on 31 Oct 2021

There are still a few Hawker Dragonflies out in the middle of the day. This one flew to land on a dead twig, and we got to see how badly his wings are worn and torn from weeks of 'Hawking'.
Insects can fly with quite amazingly damaged wings.

Ref: 20211031_d72_20210915_1304_027 migrant (q) hawker dragonfly male with extremely worn wings(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 05 Sep 2010 at 14:30 Image of day on 31 Oct 2010

This Migrant hawker dragonfly female was hunting over our North boundary on a chilly but sunny day and this was taken as she flew by into the wind slowing her progress enough to follow it with the camera. Note how the legs are neatly folded underneath - something you don't see in our indoor pictures because the insect hasn't had time to pull them up.

Ref: 20101031_df1_20100905_1430_119 migrant hawker dragonfly adult female in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 22 Aug 2015 at 18:11 Image of day on 23 Oct 2015

Perseverance sometimes brings its own 'luck' - here we caught this moment of a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly just failing to catch an insect. Read the montage left to right, all of this taking about half a second:-

Dragonfly starts the swerve toward the insect.
Dragonfly starts to lower it's legs to make a catch net.
Insect almost caught in net.
Missed it. Oh well, there are thousands more to try for!

Ref: 20151023_df4_20150822_1811_407-410 migrant hawker dragonfly circles to catch but drop insect 4-7 of 8 (accurate montage mirrored)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 28 Jul 2024 at 16:28 Image of day on 11 Sep 2024

Some of the Migrant Hawker Dragonflies frequent the sun-warmed concrete access track, and often perch at a convenient human eye height.
This is a female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly.

Ref: 20240911_df3_20240728_1628_097 migrant hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 11 Aug 2023 at 13:07 Image of day on 08 Oct 2023

Its easier to see the detail of a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly when perched in a hedge.

Ref: 20231008_df3_20230811_1307_079 migrant hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 13 Aug 2023 at 12:18 Image of day on 08 Oct 2023

This time we find a female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly awaiting her Portrait.

Ref: 20231008_df3_20230813_1218_196 migrant hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 23 Jul 2021 at 13:21 Image of day on 31 Aug 2021

This female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly hangs in the shade inside a hedge.

Ref: 20210831_pk1_20210723_1321_155 migrant hawker dragonfly female (1st of 2021) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 16 Jul 2022 at 11:31 Image of day on 01 Sep 2022

The first Migrant Hawker Dragonfly we have spotted this year, this one a female just becoming mature, here 'caught' in flight.

Ref: 20220901_d72_20220716_1131_119 migrant hawker dragonfly female becoming mature (first of 2022)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 11 Aug 2024 at 13:29 Image of day on 27 Sep 2024

Here a female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly is mostly in shade, but a tiny shaft of sunlight is sparkling on her wings like a row of tiny lamps.

Ref: 20240927_d72_20240811_1329_259 migrant hawker dragonfly female catching multiple reflections of sunlight on wing (crop + insert)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 13 Aug 2024 at 12:43 Image of day on 27 Sep 2024

This is a female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly hanging from a desiccated cut hedge twig. Dragonflies seem to make 'bee-line' (sorry) for these quite sparsely spaced anomalies.

Ref: 20240927_d72_20240813_1243_064 migrant hawker dragonfly female hanging from cut hedge twig(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 08 Aug 2012 at 17:59 Image of day on 14 Sep 2012

A few days later a female migrant Hawker was disguising herself in a similar way.

Ref: 20120914_df1_20120808_1759_108 migrant hawker dragonfly female hanging from dead stem(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 15 Aug 2018 at 12:30 Image of day on 04 Oct 2018

As the sunshine waned this individual landed almost in front of us giving us the chance to capture this portrait.

Ref: 20181004_df3_20180815_1230_039 migrant hawker dragonfly female hanging from leaf in hedge(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 09 Aug 2014 at 15:40 Image of day on 18 Oct 2014

Next day we saw this female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly land on the now spent flower of the Buddleia.

Ref: 20141018_df2_20140809_1540_334 migrant hawker dragonfly female hanging on buddleia seed head (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 13 Aug 2024 at 12:44 Image of day on 27 Sep 2024

Possibly the same individual now preferring to hang from the stem of a stinging nettle.

Ref: 20240927_d72_20240813_1244_074 migrant hawker dragonfly female hanging stinging nettle(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 13 Aug 2014 at 12:31 Image of day on 22 Oct 2014

A couple of hours later a female Migrant Hawker dragonfly was hunting back and forth over the warm concrete, and we got this unexpectedly sharp image as she glided by.

Ref: 20141022_df2_20140813_1231_215 migrant hawker dragonfly female immature in flight 1 of 5 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 17 Sep 2022 at 13:29 Image of day on 27 Oct 2022

Ref: 20221027_df3_20220917_1329_393 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 20 Aug 2019 at 12:54 Image of day on 10 Oct 2019

One of several Migrant Hawker Dragonflies feeding over the meadow.

Ref: 20191010_d73_20190820_1254_077 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 10 Aug 2012 at 13:09 Image of day on 10 Sep 2012

For an in-flight photograph of a female Migrant Hawker Dragonfly this image is ridiculously sharp.

Ref: 20120910_da1_20120810_1309_035_ft1 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop 1)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 10 Aug 2012 at 13:09 Image of day on 10 Sep 2012

A detail from the previous in-flight photo.

Ref: 20120910_da1_20120810_1309_035_ft1 migrant hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop 2)(r+mb id@576).jpg

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