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Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 28
Image Taken on 26 Aug 2013
at 10:27 Image of day on 28 Oct 2013
The seed heads mean no more to this male Ruddy Darter dragonfly
than a convenient place to perch to warm in the sunshine.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20131028_a77_20130826_1027_003 ruddy darter dragonfly male perched on ragwort seed head (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Aug 2019
at 12:31 Image of day on 23 Oct 2019
A Few Ruddy Darters are stationed around the ponds.
This one was perched on a dead Blackberry stem ready to leap out
to catch any passing midge.
.jpg)
Ref: 20191023_df3_20190829_1231_006 ruddy darter dragonfly male perched on tip of dead blackberry stem(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Jul 2010
at 15:59 Image of day on 21 Aug 2010
A 'Ruddy Darter' dragonfly caught over the sedge at Duck pond who we
'invited' in for a few minutes for some photos in flight.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20100821_da1_20100710_1559_175+1635_192_ft1 ruddy darter dragonfly mature male in flight with hop sedge (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Jul 2019
at 15:04 Image of day on 10 Sep 2019
A male Ruddy Darter is perched on an Iris leaf.
First sighting of this insects 2019.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190910_d73_20190725_1504_020 ruddy darter dragonfly perched on iris leaf (1st of 2019)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Sep 2018
at 12:46 Image of day on 12 Nov 2018
This male Ruddy Darter Dragonfly was flying from stick tip to stick tip
as he keeps a look-out for rivals and mates.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20181112_df3_20180918_1246_176+1250_193 ruddy darter dragonfly perched on tip of sticks (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2019
at 10:20 Image of day on 28 Oct 2019
A mature female Ruddy Darter Dragonfly on the tip of a cut Blackberry stem shows
the sun shining through the orange pterostigma - the
coloured patches near the tips of the wings - that are present but takes many
forms in the various Odonata species.
.jpg)
Ref: 20191028_df3_20190903_1020_719 ruddy darter mature female(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image of day on 04 Sep 2005
This Darter Dragonfly (Ruddy Sympetrum) perched on a warm rock at
one of the night photo stations and show an almost perfect shadow of
it's wings.
.jpg)
Ref: 20050904_p20_1030429 ruddy sympetrum darter dragonfly and its shadow 2005aug28_13-32-48(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Oct 2012
at 13:18 Image of day on 13 Nov 2012
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly individual has frequented a
sunny and sheltered section of the meadow for several October days.
We know her from her torn wing and tatty wing tips, but she can fly well.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121113_df1_20121010_1318_175+185 souther hawker dragonfly female with torn wing near dandelion flower 1+2 of 2 (montage for focus)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Jun 2010
at 12:28 Image of day on 03 Aug 2010
Dragonflies end their 2 or 3 year life as predatory aquatic
larvae by crawling up a plant stem and emerging from a pupal case
(Exuvia) to expand into the flying insect. This image
shows the intricacy of the case including transparent eyes and
the strands which are insides of the breathing spiracles. The
insect exited out of the upper back. Thanks for Rory for the gift
of the Exuvia from his garden pond.
If you are interested in more detail we photographed an exit
sequence of a different dragonfly species in 1999 (with far
inferior equipment) which you can see at
Dragonfly Emergence sequence
 (rgb) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20100803_d12_20100624_1228_008 southern hawker dragonfly exuvia side (@ rory morrisey) (rgb) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Jul 2023
at 12:56 Image of day on 18 Sep 2023
Another sighting of a female Southern Hawker Dragonfly warming quietly in the sunshine.
.jpg)
Ref: 20230918_df3_20230726_1256_113 southern hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Jul 2008
at 13:53 Image of day on 12 Aug 2008
Dragonflies really are incredible creatures. Unlike the one shown
a few days ago this is definitely a female. Sexing can be
difficult - the colours change with maturity and even with
temperature and other characteristics don't appear in photos
.jpg)
Ref: 20080812_da1_20080727_1353_017 southern hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Jul 2021
at 13:17 Image of day on 31 Aug 2021
Finally the hot weather has brought out the first dragons - well Hawker Dragonflies at
least!
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly is perched on a twig basking in the hot sunshine.
 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210831_pk1_20210723_1317_150 southern hawker dragonfly female (1st of 2021) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Jul 2008
at 13:59 Image of day on 12 Aug 2008
Here is a head shot with an inset showing the compound eye.
Compound eyes are an array of uni-directional cells rather
than lens and retina. Resolution is poor but they have huge angle
of view, are lightweight, detect movement quickly, and some
detect polarisation (used to navigate by skylight).
More info at
Wiki Compound Eye.
The streaks on the eye in the main image are Moire (artificial
digital patterning) effects at the reduced resolution used in
these archives.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20080812_da1_20080727_1359_073 southern hawker dragonfly female eye detail (web sized 768)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2012
at 12:13 Image of day on 06 Oct 2012
Female Southern hawker dragonflies don't systematically patrol
ponds like the males do, but hunt around the hedges and rank
grass. Here she is hung up on a dead stem.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121006_df1_20120823_1213_004 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from dead stem (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 20 Aug 2024
at 14:15 Image of day on 06 Oct 2024
A female Southern Hawker Dragonfly resting on a vertical stem
.jpg)
Ref: 20241006_d72_20240820_1415_069 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from plant stem(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Aug 2020
at 12:11 Image of day on 28 Sep 2020
Our first (and so far only) sighting this year of a Southern Hawker Dragonfly.
This is a female hanging on stinging nettle flowers.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20200928_d73_20200817_1211_042 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from stinging nettle flowers (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Aug 2013
at 14:51 Image of day on 05 Oct 2013
This female Southern Hawker dragonfly spent a few minutes indoors
for a some in-flight portraits.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20131005_da1_20130811_1451_370_ft1 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2018
at 14:17 Image of day on 29 Oct 2018
4 images of a female Southern Hawker Dragonfly in this pic, if you
can only find them spread across the confusing ground flying right to left.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20181029_df3_20180905_1417_113-116 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight 1-4 of 4 (accurate montage @7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2018
at 14:17 Image of day on 29 Oct 2018
This is a detail of the last image in the montage (far left).
The male of the Southern Hawker Dragonfly is our most commonly seen
large Hawker, but we don't often see the females like this one except when
depositing eggs at the edge of a pond, so a pleasing moment.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20181029_df3_20180905_1417_116 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight 4 of 4 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2012
at 12:16 Image of day on 06 Oct 2012
This female Southern Hawker dragonfly was flying into a strong wind
allowing an unusual 3 images in succession to be in reasonable
focus. You can see from the difficulty of seeing the wings
against complex background the reason we use a simple 'blue sky'
background in the indoor 'flight tunnel'
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20121006_df1_20120823_1216_060-062 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight @ 7fps 1-3 of 3 (horizontal spread montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
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