Sunny Sunday

The dragonfly pond was the first stop today, a hot and sunny Sunday. The grass by the path to the pond had been cut since my last visit and I walked along it following the edge of the plantation of shrubs. All the way to the pond were common darters over the mown grass, over a larger open space by the pond were hawkers.

My intention was to see how close the new lens will get in order to compare it to the 70-300 with the Raynox attached. With it being so warm I didn't hold out much hope of a darter sitting still while I tried to rub it's nose with the lens! But I was wrong. In less than half an hour I'd done it. I tried a few shots with available light but the depth of field was pitiful. The darter stayed put while I attached the flash and tried again.

Not quite as close as the old system

As I was leaving I did manage some decent shots with available light of another friendly darter perched on a branch. I was pleased with that. Then it was off to hill country and the black darters. The heather is now in bloom, and a decent landscape photographer could really make something of the play of colours on the hills.

A poor effort

The small pool is more boggy than the larger and seems to harbour more darters and emerald damsels. Even so I spent some time watching a common hawker ovipositing. There didn't seem to be as many darters around as last week, but it had been sunny all day, whereas last week the sun had only shone after lunch - so maybe they'd done enough by the time I arrived.

Sheltered, boggy and sunny. Ideal upland dragonfly habitat.

Looking round the larger pool there wasn't much to see except a multitude of common blue damsels on bare patches of earth and flying low over the water. Then I heard the beating of larger wings against sedge, a sign of a common hawker ovipositing in the margin. I found the dragonfly easily, but with the juncus overhanging the water it was impossible to get a clear shot without falling headlong into the pool! I considered a paddling session so I could shoot towards the bank. The dragonfly moved a few feet along the bank and here I was able to get above it and carefully hold some grass clear with my left hand without disturbing the hawker and take a few photos. Not great, but interesting.

Full frame cropped for composition

Leaving the big pool I headed back down the hill and drove over to a mill lodge. This proved uninspiring so I made my way down the dam embankment into an overgrown field filled with head-high thistles. I seem to find dragonflies everywhere I go these days, and a brown hawker was working over the thistle heads in the lowering sun.

Again I wished I was more of a landsacapeist. The backlight on the vegetation was delightful. I made a stab at using it to get some atmosphere into a butterfly shot. It kinda works. Given more time, and thistle proof trousers, I could have sought out a better subject, pose and composition. I considered looking elsewhere for some backlit plants, but the body was weaker than the spirit.

Back-lit peacock

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