Thursday 6 August 2009

Dragon & Damsel


Southern Hawker



Two pictures from this last week. Firstly a Southern Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea) photographed at Top Hill Low last Friday lunch time adjacent to the picnic benches in the car park.

Secondly an Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) pictured in Harwood Dale on Sunday one of the family of species that perch with spreadwings.

Pictures taken at the long end of my zoom telephoto lens.

6 comments:

FAB said...

Nice sharp images with that lens Mike.

Linda Yarrow said...

I took a picture of a dragonfly at Powerstock and I was not sure if it was a Common Hawker or a Southern Hawker.

Anonymous said...

The Emerald is a brilliant shot Mike. I have not seen one of them.

Matt Latham said...

Great work Mike - have never captured an image of a southern hawker, a fantastic hawker species.

Vince Cowell said...

Nice shots Mike. Especially like the Emerald Damselfly.
Vince

Mike Randall Bird Photography said...

Thanks for your comments everyone.
I bought a good field guide for this year Lyn and still struggled to ID this dragonfly as an immature Southern Hawker, quite different to the adults.
I was not sure about the emerald either as most pictures (see Matts) show what you would expect emerald colouring. I think it is the time of season that produced the colours I pictured.