Multitool.org Forum
Non Tool Forum => The Shutter Shop => Topic started by: Ron Who on January 26, 2017, 05:20:56 PM
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
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Cool!
But challenging in winter!
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Cool pics!
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Cool!
But challenging in winter!
These aren't winter pics. :D
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
A few years ago on another forum, a member there also shared his same hobby. He is/was a US Army Chaplin and had been all over world and off duty would venture out find these sleek mosquito hunters. The last assignment I recall was South Korea before my online focus changed.
A very neat hobby and additional pictures would be enjoyed. But please watermark them, otherwise you will loose credit which is yours.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
A few years ago on another forum, a member there also shared his same hobby. He is/was a US Army Chaplin and had been all over world and off duty would venture out find these sleek mosquito hunters. The last assignment I recall was South Korea before my online focus changed.
A very neat hobby and additional pictures would be enjoyed. But please watermark them, otherwise you will loose credit which is yours.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There's more where that came from, I'm not worrying about copyrights too much.
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Very cool pics Ronald :o :cheers: :like: :like:
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Wow, that's really neat. Do you have a special setup for capturing them in flight? Or is it lots of patience and a quick shutter finger? Either way, great shots, thanks for sharing!
When I was a kid, I used to live near some ponds and wetland-like areas, we used to see dragonflies all the time. Along with butterflies (Monarchs and Swallowtails), praying mantis, walking sticks, all kinds of cool bugs. I used to catch butterflies and keep them in little bug boxes for a few hours. Now, I'm lucky to see cabbage butterflies (small, white, and extremely common) in the summer.
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Starting in 2011, I photographed 40 species of dragon/damselflies and 24 species of butterflies, all within 7 miles of my home. There's lots of wetlands, brooks and rivers here, and some forest as well. A large area to the south of my home town was designated a Euro2000 Natural Reserve, with some unique habitats and species.
I'm not using any special equipment, just my Sony DSC-HX200V and a lot of practice. Getting the moment right becomes easier as you get more familiar with dragonfly behaviour. Alternatively, with a very fast autofocus you could use burst mode.
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The Scarce Large Blue Butterfly (Phengaris teleius). Very rare, only two small populations in The Netherlands -- and I'm living within walking distance of one of them!
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More dragonfly pics in another thread: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,57772.msg1351141.html#msg1351141
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:like:
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I love dragonflies, and they love me. We have a symbiotic relationship whenever I'm outside, and especially while kayaking. I apparently produce whatever it is (CO2, body heat, pheromones) that attracts mosquitoes in ultra high concentrations because I always get an exponential number of bites compared to anyone with me. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it isn't- the little buggers love me.
Luckily, that also seems to attract the dragonflies, and they often fly in formation with my kayak, often landing on my hat or the boat deck to rest a bit before taking off again. It really is kind of cool to see dozens of these winged protectors flying around me, often keeping an almost exact pace with my boat, knowing their lunch isn't far away!
Plus they are graceful and very beautiful, and a lot of fun to watch.
I'm glad to see others appreciate them as much as I do, and your pictures are gorgeous!
Def
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I love dragonflies, and they love me. We have a symbiotic relationship whenever I'm outside, and especially while kayaking. I apparently produce whatever it is (CO2, body heat, pheromones) that attracts mosquitoes in ultra high concentrations because I always get an exponential number of bites compared to anyone with me. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it isn't- the little buggers love me.
Luckily, that also seems to attract the dragonflies, and they often fly in formation with my kayak, often landing on my hat or the boat deck to rest a bit before taking off again. It really is kind of cool to see dozens of these winged protectors flying around me, often keeping an almost exact pace with my boat, knowing their lunch isn't far away!
Plus they are graceful and very beautiful, and a lot of fun to watch.
I'm glad to see others appreciate them as much as I do, and your pictures are gorgeous!
Def
Thanks!
I would love to go kayaking with you. All my photographs were shot from solid ground.
PS dragonflies love me too, especially females. I talk to them.
PPSS I believe mosquitoes will "smell" CO2 at about 100 yards and "see" warmth at short distance, homing in on the blood vessels. Sometimes I make pictures, it depends on what is stinging/biting me.
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If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods I'd be happy to take you paddling. It is by far my favorite outdoor activity.
Def
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I'm logging all my dragonfly (and other) observations on a website, together with thousands of other people (mostly bird spotters). The aggregate info is used by policy makers, our CBS (National Bureau of Statistics) and NDFF (National Database of Flora and Fauna) would not be able to produce this info without the help of us volunteers. The red boxes on the map are square kilometers showing where I made the photographs.
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My dragonfly photograph collection numbers over 10,000 so I won't be posting them all :D.
This one is a last summer's exclusive for MTo (Emerald Willow Damselfly on Victorinox Harvester).
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My dragonfly photograph collection numbers over 10,000 so I won't be posting them all :D.
OK, maybe not all 10,000, but we would enjoy more (a lot more) :salute:
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A few more won't be too much trouble... This is the Banded Demoiselle (male and female). This is a fairly common species here. The male's blue wing spots make this a very attractive species to watch. The Banded Demoiselle's erratic flight reminds one of butterflies rather than dragonflies.
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Thanks. :tu:
I particularly like the beautiful metallic colours - reminds me of some of the beetle cases I sometimes see around here (Canberra, Australia).
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I like beetles as well, especially ladybugs, but they're hard to make decent pictures of. Without special equipment, larger bugs are easier. Like the Great Green Bush Cricket (male and female).
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Coincidentally, the other day I came agross a newspaper article about DragonflEye drones.
http://www.draper.com/news/equipping-insects-special-service
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Those are stunning Roland. :o
:salute:
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Thank you, Gareth.
To be honest, there are many photographers at the spotter's website, and many of them are better than me. The same is true here on MTo.
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Life ain't easy for a damselfly. You might get caught by a robberfly, or in a spider's web. Large dragonflies must be careful too. Especially if they're female and want to lay eggs... to get eaten by a frog after a lifetime of dodging cats and
dogs birds.
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Some great photos there- I love looking at them!
I have been looking through my photos trying to find the pic Megan took of the dragonflies on my hat as we ot ready to go kayaking, but I haven't been able to find it yet.
I'll keep looking....
Def
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Found it. Not a very good pic of the dragonfly, but this kind of thing is a very common occurrence for me.
(http://gallery.multitool.org/pbmirror/Personal/Kayaking/Four%20Lakes%20Run/October%2019%202014/20141019_123946_zpsc0c662e3.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/Multitooldotorg/media/Personal/Kayaking/Four%20Lakes%20Run/October%2019%202014/20141019_123946_zpsc0c662e3.jpg.html)
I have also used my paddle to scoop them out of the water and set them down on the deck of the boat to dry off safely- like I said, we are symbiotic- they protect me and I do my best to look after them while attractive tasty mosquitos to feast on my tasty flesh. :ahhh
Def
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An ideal place to catch some warmth from the sun. I often see dragonflies perching on light (relative to the environment) objects.
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I had one stop by and have a rest and sun itself last September, while I was on holiday and having a day at a water garden.
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/633/32607446795_479d643b9f_b.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/722/31795382263_bf5c3be8cd_b.jpg)
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:like:
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I like it when there are more dragomflies in a single shot.
Top to bottom Broad-bodied Chaser, Hairy Hawker, Migrant Hawker.
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I can see that during this year's kayak season I am going to have to take a lot more dragonfly photos. :D
I have a few from over the years, but they usually aren't a priority for photos to post. The guy I used to kayak with a lot, Frank, used to have them land on the Dagger logo on his boat- he thought maybe they were attracted to it because it looked like a flower.
(http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk/ekmps/shops/wwtcc/images/dagger-69-c[ekm]185x184[ekm].jpg)
I'm not sure if they were attracted to it or if it was a coincidence, or just a good spot to land, but all of the ones that seemed to land on his boat landed on the logo.
When I get out on the water I'm like an aircraft carrier, with a swarm of interceptors buzzing around me!
Def
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I have a bright yellow station wagon, and all sorts of insects find the colour very attractive, but no dragonflies unfortunately :(
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I nominate the picture in Reply #16 for a possible MTO calendar entry!
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Thank you, Detron. I don't think the pic will scale up to calendar size, but thanks.
For the calendar, I would prefer the pics by Steve, or SAK Guy, or Sneider, or ....
I think their pics are better than mine and better fit the MTo theme.
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Thank you, Detron. I don't think the pic will scale up to calendar size, but thanks.
For the calendar, I would prefer the pics by Steve, or SAK Guy, or Sneider, or ....
I think their pics are better than mine and better fit the MTo theme.
well, that may be true, but it was a great picture.
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Agreed!
It is indeed a great photo!
Def
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My contribution to the cause. :tu:
Pictures were taken while waiting at a train station during my Japan trip last September. It was raining, many dragonflies stayed at the glass windows. Camera was of a Samsung S6.
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The rest
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Very cool shots!
Def
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Very cool shots!
Def
+1!
They do exactly the same thing as I'm doing when it's raining. Looking out, waiting for it to stop!
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There is a Dragonfly-Classic:
http://news.victorinox.com/en/vote-win-classic-limited-edition-design-contest-2017/
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There is a Dragonfly-Classic:
http://news.victorinox.com/en/vote-win-classic-limited-edition-design-contest-2017/
Thanks, I know and I voted for it, and will definitely buy it. I already have the Spyderco Dragonfly Tattoo.
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There is a Dragonfly-Classic:
http://news.victorinox.com/en/vote-win-classic-limited-edition-design-contest-2017/
Thanks, I know and I voted for it, and will definitely buy it. I already have the Spyderco Dragonfly Tattoo.
:cheers:
Dragonflies - these elegant flight acrobats - have fascinated me as a child.
In my childhood I spent a lot of time at a forest lake, since it always had imperator dragonflies (Anax imperator)
I sometimes had larvae in the aquarium. They have a telescopic pliers with which they catch polliwog and small fish.
Today I rarely see an imperator dragonfly. They are shy - and I am a bad photographer - so I never caught one with the camera.
Here is an old photo of some small species:
(https://up.picr.de/28446105yo.jpg)
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That's a Blue Featherleg (Platycnemis pennipes) and a great shot!
:like:
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This pic should be here of course. One of the 2017 LE Classics.
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These spydies are nice too (they're not mine >:(.)
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In the news today: Chinese researchers found some 100 million years old featherlegs trapped in amber.
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This is such a great thread and the pictures within are terrific. I wish I could attract a squadron to my yard to eat up all the mosquitos that have multiplied since we got more rain that normal.
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This is such a great thread and the pictures within are terrific. I wish I could attract a squadron to my yard to eat up all the mosquitos that have multiplied since we got more rain that normal.
Dragonfly season has only just begun. Possibly the mosquitos will attract them without your help. Planting some lemongrass may also help to get rid of the mosquitos.
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This is such a great thread and the pictures within are terrific. I wish I could attract a squadron to my yard to eat up all the mosquitos that have multiplied since we got more rain that normal.
Dragonfly season has only just begun. Possibly the mosquitos will attract them without your help. Planting some lemongrass may also help to get rid of the mosquitos.
I've been looking at some plants to grow that will attract them both for their beauty and for their help.
Thanks for the tip :salute:
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This is such a great thread and the pictures within are terrific. I wish I could attract a squadron to my yard to eat up all the mosquitos that have multiplied since we got more rain that normal.
Dragonfly season has only just begun. Possibly the mosquitos will attract them without your help. Planting some lemongrass may also help to get rid of the mosquitos.
I've been looking at some plants to grow that will attract them both for their beauty and for their help.
Thanks for the tip :salute:
I don't know about any specific plants to attract dragonflies. No doubt a pond will do the trick but will attract gnats and mosquitos as well.
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How have I missed this thread for 2 months :think:
Excellent pics Ronald :o Love them all :like: :like:
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Thanks, P. Easy to miss a couple of threads. I have about 1000 pages of backlog. :-\
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Back when we first changed to the current theme I accidentally pressed the "Mark all threads as read " button :facepalm: So I don't have that many pages on my unread now :whistle: :D
Still easy for me to miss threads though :think:
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Lol! :facepalm:
If only you could mark all threads as unread...
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A week ago the first Large Red Damselfly was spotted in the Netherlands. So with the weather conditions being excellent today, I had to go out and find one for myself! The hunting season is open!
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I also spotted this Orangetip butterfly, and several other species.
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Excellent 8) :like: :like:
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Fab stuff Ronald. :tu:
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Variable Bluet, one of the most common species around here. I saw only one today; the weather is too cold for the time of the year
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The first real dragonfly this year -- Four Spotted Chaser.
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First Hairy Hawker of the year, a female.
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No dragonflies today, however I did spot some beautiful mayflies.
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I'm enjoying all the pics, keep up the good work :tu: :salute:
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Thanks, G! :salute:
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Yeah mate, more is good. :tu: :like:
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:cheers:
Did you know unlike dragonflies, mayflies aren't raptors, they don't even eat. They hatch, mate, lay eggs if they're female, and then die.
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Broad-bodied Chaser.
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The river Aa, near my house, is connected to the East Lake by a concrete tube. This Gray Heron at the river end of the tube has discovered there's a lot of fish passing through.
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This is one I made in October 2015. A wasp (Ichneumonidae indet.) is laying eggs in a wooden post. Before depositing the eggs, the wasp is turning around her body axis maybe 10 or 12 times and uses her
awl sting to drill a hole.
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Awesome pics Ronald :like: :tu:
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There are Red-headed and Black-headed Cardinal Beetles in the Netherlands. We call them vuurkevers (fire beetles).
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Broad-bodied Chaser.
(https://forum.multitool.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=70446.0;attach=317883)
Wow, he's a real bruiser isn't he? :o Great shots mate, keep up the good work. :salute:
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Broad-bodied Chaser.
(https://forum.multitool.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=70446.0;attach=317883)
Wow, he's a real bruiser isn't he? :o Great shots mate, keep up the good work. :salute:
If I was a bird, I would feed on these. :cheers:
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Dutch biggest wasp (and a real "bird" of prey): the hornet. One of my favorites, I'm always looking for nests.
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Pictured a few more today.
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So you like bugs? There´s also Zoidbergs Random Spider Pics. https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,71639.0.html
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Picturing butterflies while I'm hunting dragons... :facepalm: Some of my nicest.
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...
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I made this picture the day after a heavy summer rainstorm.
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My 2017LE Classic SD Dragonfly arrived!
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Four-spotted Chaser today, and a Green-eyed Hawker. Summer is here!
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Banded Demoiselle, female.
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Banded Demoiselle, male.
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More Banded Demoiselles today.
The first picture shows the skin that it sheds when hatching. In the second pic a malformed specimen that is unable to fly.
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Some more Broad-bodied Chasers as well, male (blue) and female.
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A young male Black-tailed Skimmer and another Green-eyed Hawker.
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The past few weeks I had a couple blackbirds breeding in my barn. Today the last chick fledged.
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Yet another Green-eyed Hawker. This is an early species, other hawkers will start appearing in June.
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Yeah! The first one in flight this year! Green-eyed Hawker again.
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There are no flying dragons right here where I live except the one on my gf's hand but in the upside it is much easier to take a pic of. This is probably the thread she has the most interest in, this and the one with the spiders
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170604/d81920bc2b1a0fd740e5aa9b40b2e93e.jpg)
It's not failure if you learn something from it
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:like:
I´ve often wondered about getting a tattoo, either a magpie (like Marillion's La Gaza Ladra) or a dragonfly, just never got round to it.
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The golden swamp dragon, symbol of my hometown 's-Hertogenbosch.
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:like:
I´ve often wondered about getting a tattoo, either a magpie (like Marillion's La Gaza Ladra) or a dragonfly, just never got round to it.
Look around at the tattoo artists around where you live and if it feels right talk to them, if it don't just go to the next.
I heard a interview on the radio that was kind of awesome. This old lady got her first tattoo of her favorite bird when she was 80 or 85 and then did her next favorite bird 5 years later and was waiting to do a third another 5 years down the road. So there is no rush ;-)
It's not failure if you learn something from it
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I thought of you and snapped this pic today.
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Beautiful! :like:
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Blue Emperor.
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:like: :cheers:
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:like: :cheers:
Thanks. :cheers:
I wondered whether Arizona, the arid zone, has any dragonflies, so I did some googling and found http://azdragonfly.org/species with this beautiful pic of a White-belted Ringtail.
It turns out Arizona has more species than The Netherlands.
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:like: :cheers:
Thanks. :cheers:
I wondered whether Arizona, the arid zone, has any dragonflies, so I did some googling and found http://azdragonfly.org/species with this beautiful pic of a White-belted Ringtail.
It turns out Arizona has more species than The Netherlands.
indubitably.
We've also got a pretty impressive group of hummingbirds. :cheers:
Flying creatures in general tend to do well here, every once in a while I get to see a bald eagle while I'm up north.
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We don't have any hummingbirds. Very nice!
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.
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:like: :cheers:
Thanks. :cheers:
I wondered whether Arizona, the arid zone, has any dragonflies, so I did some googling and found http://azdragonfly.org/species with this beautiful pic of a White-belted Ringtail.
It turns out Arizona has more species than The Netherlands.
indubitably.
We've also got a pretty impressive group of hummingbirds. :cheers:
Flying creatures in general tend to do well here, every once in a while I get to see a bald eagle while I'm up north.
I see a lot of humming birds in SoCal but not ofter do I see them stop long enough for me to snap a picture. I do see dragon flies but until recently never snapped a picture. Now Ronald has got me trying to snap pictures of these beautiful creatures.
The humming bird pictured is gorgeous.
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:like: :cheers:
Thanks. :cheers:
I wondered whether Arizona, the arid zone, has any dragonflies, so I did some googling and found http://azdragonfly.org/species with this beautiful pic of a White-belted Ringtail.
It turns out Arizona has more species than The Netherlands.
indubitably.
We've also got a pretty impressive group of hummingbirds. :cheers:
Flying creatures in general tend to do well here, every once in a while I get to see a bald eagle while I'm up north.
I see a lot of humming birds in SoCal but not ofter do I see them stop long enough for me to snap a picture. I do see dragon flies but until recently never snapped a picture. Now Ronald has got me trying to snap pictures of these beautiful creatures.
The humming bird pictured is gorgeous.
Very good. Just don't blame me if it eats up all your free time! :D
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I found a dead dragonfly in the park today. This is a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea), , a young male. I'm using my Solo to keep it from going with the wind.
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A few older pics. Ruddy Darter and Black Darter.
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(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7457/27678792916_3aafeeef2b_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JaT3Pw)6-16-16-1 (https://flic.kr/p/JaT3Pw) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7497/27102298283_61fd967f9a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HhWn3T)6-16-16-2 (https://flic.kr/p/HhWn3T) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/28882601121_9e6317423a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/L1fT4p)8-13-16-71 (https://flic.kr/p/L1fT4p) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8894/28781548912_246dc3a67c_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/KRjXKW)8-9-16-6 (https://flic.kr/p/KRjXKW) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8567/16563059861_63429f0154_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/reC1DB)63014-2 (https://flic.kr/p/reC1DB) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/27241689712_9334e06693_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HvfMgo)5-29-16-2 (https://flic.kr/p/HvfMgo) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7181/27678790976_cce8e81a38_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JaT3f5)6-16-16-3 (https://flic.kr/p/JaT3f5) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7691/27785618420_86ae48d4c2_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Jkjyjy)7-3-16-11 (https://flic.kr/p/Jkjyjy) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8662/28215378876_435d996862_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JZic8A)7-11-16-3 (https://flic.kr/p/JZic8A) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7677/27271319143_dcbe284fdd_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/HxSD4D)6-24-16-3 (https://flic.kr/p/HxSD4D) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
***************************************************************************************************************
Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.
........................................................
On one sunny day,my daughter was out catching butterflies with her net and she happened to see a yellow/black butterfly that already had a broken right wing.
My daughter came to me and showed me the butterfly and at that moment I decided to try and fix the broken wing.
I took small piece of scotch magic tape and put it on the both side of the wing,I didn't know if this would actually work but as I finished I let go of the butterfly and it could fly again!!!
:)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8809/27922172800_dc8c64f057_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Jxorbq)7-9-16-1 (https://flic.kr/p/Jxorbq) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8680/28169281806_0328264d8e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JVdW5w)7-9-16-2 (https://flic.kr/p/JVdW5w) by VaDimZH (https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadimzh/), on Flickr
***************************************************************************************************************
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:like: :like:
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From July onwards it's time for Darters and Hawkers.
Today I found some Ruddy Darters (male and female).
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Today I found another Banded Demoiselle and a Blue Emperor.
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
Is that a relative of Nessie swirling the water in the background of your second photo? ??? :D
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
Is that a relative of Nessie swirling the water in the background of your second photo? ??? :D
Probably, yes. :D
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My real hobby: dragonfly photography.
Is that a relative of Nessie swirling the water in the background of your second photo? ??? :D
Probably, yes. :D
:o
:cheers: :tu: :D
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The Essche Stroom, one of the rivers where I go hunting.
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:like:
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A few more mayfly pics. Ephemera glaucops, dun and spinner.
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One of my first dragonfly pics, June 2011.
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:tu: :like: :salute:
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Another oldie, showing the size of a Hairy Hawker.
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Reposting some pics from the "recent outdoor activity" thread.
Southern Hawkwer, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Greem Eyed Hawker.
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:like: :like: :like: :like:
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:cheers:
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Last Wednesday.
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.
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.
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.
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:like: :like: :tu: :salute:
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Today's dragonflies: a fresh male Migrant Hawker and a female Brown Hawker laying her eggs.
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:like: :tu:
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:D
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:like: :tu: :rofl:
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Better colour in person(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170726/64cdc1f5a6d26de6a753e7714bd54d6b.jpg)
Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk
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:like: :like:
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Spotted this female Southern Hawker today.
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Today's Hawkers.
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This is a tiny leaf of Drosera (sundew) in the palm of my hand. Sundew is a carnivorous plant. It isn't very rare but it's so small that it's overlooked easily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera
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It has been two hours!!! Are you okay?! Did it eat you?!
Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk
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It has been two hours!!! Are you okay?! Did it eat you?!
Sent from my XT1563 using Tapatalk
Heavens, no! Good thing I didn't meet its big brother!
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There are 9 Darter species in The Netherlands, a few of them quite rare. They occur July-October.
Most common is the Common Darter. Pics show a male and a female.
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Then, almost as common as the Common Darter, and of like appearance except for the moustache, the Moustached Darter.
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The third place is for the Ruddy Darter. It would seem Darters like barbed wire.
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The third place is for the Ruddy Darter. It would seem Darters like barbed wire.
Man, I want to be hanging out in Holland with some flying dragons... ::)
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An extract from my statistics at spotters'site waarneming.nl:
first last #
1 Southern Hawker - Aeshna cyanea 2012-08-24 2017-08-06 24
2 Brown Hawker - Aeshna grandis 2011-07-20 2017-08-09 36
3 Green-eyed Hawker - Aeshna isoceles 2011-06-18 2017-06-10 57
4 Migrant Hawker - Aeshna mixta 2011-08-04 2017-08-09 146
5 Blue Emperor - Anax imperator 2012-08-27 2017-07-15 75
6 Hairy Hawker - Brachytron pratense 2013-05-31 2017-05-06 29
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Is a joy to watch your dragonfly pictures!
Thanks for sharing here. :tu:
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Todays's pics: Migrant Hawker, Common Darter and Common Brimstone.
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::) :like:
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Last Wednesday. Great Green Bush Cricket, Map Butterfly and another Migrant Hawker.
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Blow ups happen. :D
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:D
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Thought of you in the park today RoSchro:
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:like:
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Thought of you in the park today RoSchro:
:like: :tu:
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Unlike other hawker species, the Migrant Hawker likes to hunt, and rest, in packs. The entire pack will rest in a single tree which makes a spectacular sight. I counted over 50 today in only a few yards.
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I want a SAK called the Migrant Hawker...
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I want a SAK called the Migrant Hawker...
In the USA, Hawkers are called Darners. They are among the largest and fastest flying dragonflies of the planet. The Migrant Hawker is one of the smaller Hawkers with an average length of 63mm..
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What is the one in my picture RoSchro? I call it a Scarlet Flapper.
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What is the one in my picture RoSchro? I call it a Scarlet Flapper.
I had to download and enlarge the picture for the details. The answer is: Common Darter. The name is well chosen.
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Thanks Ro. What type of fly is in the picture next to the common darter? They seem close.
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Thanks Ro. What type of fly is in the picture next to the common darter? They seem close.
Hard to say, looks like a Greenbottle fly.
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Thanks Ro. What type of fly is in the picture next to the common darter? They seem close.
Hard to say, looks like a Greenbottle fly.
Are they rare, because the Scarlet Flapper killed it a minute later?
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Thanks Ro. What type of fly is in the picture next to the common darter? They seem close.
Hard to say, looks like a Greenbottle fly.
Are they rare, because the Scarlet Flapper killed it a minute later?
Haha. no. They are related to the Housefly and share most of their nasty habits, so good riddance I'd say. During its adult life a dragonfly will eat anywhere from a few dozen to hundreds of gnats and flies, and maybe an occasional butterfly. Dragonflies are a natural pest control.
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Each flying dragon name I hear sounds like an even better band name...
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Found myself a real dragon today. This is Zootoca vivipara (the Common Lizard). Its length is about 5 inches.
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Sickle-bearing Bush Cricket
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This afternoon I set out to find some other hawkers, like the Southern Hawker and the Brown Hawker. I found them allright, but didn´t manage to capture them on camera. Oh well, the hawker hunting season will last to the end of October at least. So today´s picture features yet another Migrant Hawker.
A hawker on the hunt is difficult to picture in flight. But after hunting for a few weeks, hawkers reach full maturity and go back to the water to stake out a terrritorium of their own. They patrol their terrritoria incessantly, searching for females to mate with, and will hover for longer periods of time, up to 30 seconds, and at these intervals I have the best chances of picturing one flying.
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The BSA Insect Study Merit Badge. I would like to have one even though I´m not a boy scout (and never was).
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Hey Ronald, this was on my flowers this am.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4409/36705508801_c084be0114_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XVxjY2)DSC01774 (https://flic.kr/p/XVxjY2) by SteveC (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143493499@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4378/36844773875_0196675463_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y8R6BZ)DSC01765 (https://flic.kr/p/Y8R6BZ) by SteveC (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143493499@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4388/36035849553_ab27a049a6_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/WUn9AV)DSC01761 (https://flic.kr/p/WUn9AV) by SteveC (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143493499@N04/), on Flickr
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:like: :like:
Looks like a Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica), I´m not sure. It´s not likely I´ll ever see one overhere.
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I think it's a Common Hawker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_hawker
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I think it's a Common Hawker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_hawker
The two are look-alikes. But the Common Hawker has yellow and straight shoulder stripes, while the Bog Hawker's are green and hammer shaped. OTOH the spots on the thorax seem to indicate a Common Hawker. As I said, I'm not sure.
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I believe this is a "Black Saddlebag Skimmer"
I KNOW he was huge! one of the biggest I have ever seen
I WISH he had been on something besides the concrete, so the picture would have looked better
I recommend you click the photo, and go into Photobucket and click the view image (mag glass with a +). this is a high reolution picture, thatactually shows a lot of wing detail
(http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz255/detronphillips/MISC/20170823_074606.jpg) (http://s833.photobucket.com/user/detronphillips/media/MISC/20170823_074606.jpg.html)
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:like: :like:
That's a beauty! Unfortunately I'm experiencing some trouble with the Photobucket site.
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:like: :like:
That's a beauty! Unfortunately I'm experiencing some trouble with the Photobucket site.
here is a Google Drive link, try that
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B96d3YZxO2vrdkI4ZlhvRk9EVVk
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better picture
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B96d3YZxO2vrVl8xcWN1Z0k1NTg
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Oh yes very nice. I downloaded a copy for my collection if you don't mind.
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Oh yes very nice. I downloaded a copy for my collection if you don't mind.
feel free! :tu:
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Oh yes very nice. I downloaded a copy for my collection if you don't mind.
you did notice there were 2 different photos correct?
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I think it's a Common Hawker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_hawker
The two are look-alikes. But the Common Hawker has yellow and straight shoulder stripes, while the Bog Hawker's are green and hammer shaped. OTOH the spots on the thorax seem to indicate a Common Hawker. As I said, I'm not sure.
Here's another angle, you can also click on these for a zoomable pic.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36674401442_159092c5c3_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XSMTQf)DSC01755 (https://flic.kr/p/XSMTQf) by SteveC (https://www.flickr.com/photos/143493499@N04/), on Flickr
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Yesterday I finally managed to picture a Brown Hawker again. This is a female.
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:like:
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The three common hawkers of summer and fall in the Netherlands are the Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker. In seven years I did not succeed once in picturing all three on a single day, though not for lack of trying. Today I tried again. I spotted a Southern Hawker as it came flying towards me, over me, and away again. No pic. But I got the other two!
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As the man says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5hWWe-ts2s
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Today's dragonfly.
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I found this beheaded Dragonfly the other day ... :oops:
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Poor thing! I found a dead one too, a few months ago. Pic is somewhere up in the thread. Same species, mine still had its head.
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Finally! Three out of three, for the first time today!
Top to bottom Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker.
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The Brown Hawker took a liking to me...
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The Brown Hawker took a liking to me...
:like:
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Another Brown Hawker yesterday. It might well be the last one of the season. Hawkers will be around through mid November if the weather stays warm enough, but that´s not likely to happen.
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There are 6 common hawker species here.
Top row: Hairy Hawker (May-June), Green Eyed Hawker (June-July), Blue Emperor (June-August)
Bottom row: Brown Hawker (July-October), Southern Hawker (July-October), Migrant Hawker (August-October)
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There are 6 common hawker species here.
Top row: Hairy Hawker (May-June), Green Eyed Hawker (June-July), Blue Emperor (June-August)
Bottom row: Brown Hawker (July-October), Southern Hawker (July-October), Migrant Hawker (Augustus-October)
:like: x 6 :cheers:
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I made this one a year ago. Southern Hawker on the wing.
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Today I pictured a few Common Darters. Hawkers are getting difficult to find, but some Darters will be here for a least four more weeks.
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The damselfly season is about to start, with the dragonfly season soon to follow.
Today I spotted a few hundred Firebugs.
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Double cool 8) 8)
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:like:
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:salute:
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At last, winter´s gone, my friends are returning! This is a Downy Emerald.
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A Four-Spotted Chaser
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Love this thread ! :tu:
Great pics Ron !!! :cheers:
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Love this thread ! :tu:
Great pics Ron !!! :cheers:
+1 :like: :salute:
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Thank you Steve and Dan ! :cheers: The season´s start is always very exciting, there´s a kind of race going on who´ll make the first pictures of the year´s new emerging species. In fact it´s so exciting I even forget to make new Schrönogamy pics. :o
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What camera do you use for the close up shots of them?
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I´m using a Sony HX200V for all my photographs. That´s a bridge camera with either full manual control or various auto modes. Bridge cameras are always a kind of compromise. Some pics are made with maximum zoom and lose some sharpness, others made at close range are sharper but will have the full depth background in it as well. I´m thinking a DSLR with a 150mm lens would be better, I´m going to try out one of my father´s cameras this summer.
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My father and I did some experiments with a 200mm lens. It´s too small.
Here´s one of the Hairy Hawkers I saw today (with my own camera).
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:like: :like:
That's awesome! And Hairy Hawkers is a great band name!
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A few of my today´s pics - Four-spotted Chaser (female) and Broad-bodied Chaser (young male)
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:like: :like:
That's awesome! And Hairy Hawkers is a great band name!
I´ll admit it sounds better than Bald Eagles :D
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Also a better pic of the Downy Emerald (female)
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It´s Pentecost and I´m having a week off. There are several things I could do to spend the holidays, like visiting the Pinkpop festival, or, in my hometown, Jazz in Duketown.
However, even though I love music, I chose to go hunting dragonflies. The weather forecast for this week is favorable and I´m planning to picture a few rare species. I´ll be riding my bicycle for about 150 miles in order to do this. Today was a successful day as I spotted a number of Blue Chasers. It´s the males that are blue, the females have a lovely honey color, as shown below.
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Male Blue Chaser
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This is one from two weeks ago, black with red dots and, barely visible, a white snout -- male Ruby Whiteface.
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:like: :like: :like: :like: :like:
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Thanks, Dan ! :cheers:
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More successes! After posting my 199th sighting of the Banded Demoiselle yesterday, I wanted to do the 200th today. Done! (first pic)
I went to a small woodland stream called Beerze today, and there I made my first ever pics of two species that are quite rare here - the Beautiful Demoiselle (second pic) and the Common Clubtail (third pic). I´m over the moon!
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In some countries, Demoiselles are called Jewelwings.
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One more from last Sunday, a Green-eyed Hawker, my first of the year.
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Exquisite photo's Ron. The blues and greens are just so striking :like:
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I've moved and sadly I haven't seen any Dragonflies. It doesn't mean theyre not around but my yard may not encourage them to come around :(.
Wonderful pictures Ron. We are getting Humming Birds tho so thats good.
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My luck is holding. Today I pictured a Ruby Whiteface and a few (rare) Yellow-spotted Whitefaces. My favourite pic of today is the fourth, a couple Blue Emperors.
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Dragonfly Tattoo, my good luck charm. :D
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I have always liked these bugs, ::) they are wonderful and fascinating "super-flies". I live in the higher altitude area of my city and they often leave the trees nearby and come to my window, something that is rare sight in the middle of the city. :ahhh
THey reflect the light so beautifully and the wings are awesome stuff :like:
This thread is really enjoyable Ron ;) and you do an excellent job hunting these cute flying creatures,
as a side note, they have a very weird and hard to pronounce name in my language: Libélula (pronounced lee-bae-loo-lah :rofl:)
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as a side note, they have a very weird and hard to pronounce name in my language: Libélula (pronounced lee-bae-loo-lah :rofl:)
In Dutch it´s libel (pronounced Lee Bell), plural libellen (Lee Bell´n).
This morning it was raining, I didn´t get out until 2 PM. I stayed close to home and didn´t picture anything rare.
Maybe tomorrow. But I have good pics of the Hairy Hawker, the Green-eyed Hawker and the Blue Emperor.
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Another pic of the rare Blue Chaser. I made this one three years ago.
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Love this thread !
Great pics Ron :salute:
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Thanks Steve. :cheers:
I make these pics for a Dutch spotters website. Because of that, some species have to be pictured in a specified position so it´s possible to distinguish them from close relatives. My bridge camera is ideal for this kind of work in the bush. Lightweight, no extra lenses etc.
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My Dragonfly Atlas of The Netherlands contains a determination key, at the family level, of the wing patterns of dragonflies.
It occurred to me that the drawings could be done photographically/photoshoppically.
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Lovely pictures Ron, i don't often see them anymore.
When i was a child i distinctly remember seeing lots of them but they were huge, like 9 or 10 inches long maybe bigger, you could hear them long before you saw them, a few years ago i tried to look them up online but the website said the biggest in UK was around 4 inches, so i put it down to a childs imagination and thought nothing more of it till some years later my sister mentioned she hadn't seen any of the huge Dragonflies for years..very strange, how can we both remember these huge dragons that the books tell us never existed ???
I still keep my eye open for these large ones but no joy, to be honest even the smaller ones are rarely seen here now, plenty damsels though :tu:
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When I was a kid, there was a small pond where we would go fishing or swimming. One day I knocked a Blue Emperor out of the sky, with a newspaper. I thought I had killed it and took it home with me. It turned out I had only knocked it unconscious and that evening in my room it came back to life. That one still is very large in my memory.
Actually the largest species of Western Europe may be 9 or 10 centimeters, not inches.
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We used to see them around our garden reasonably often (every week or so), but unfortunately sightings are quite rare these days. I think this may be due to two factors:
1 More urban development with houses, roads, shops etc displacing "wild" ponds and puddles, so less water for larvae (and their food sources) to develop in.
2 Drier climate. We are definitely getting less rain than we used to get here compared with 30 - 37 years ago. We have had two long-lasting droughts in our area.
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The past 50 years the number of insects decreased dramatically in Western Europe. Other causes than those you mentioned may be the use of too much fertilizer and poison in agriculture. There´s a growing awareness that we are destroying the food chain.
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The past 50 years the number of insects decreased dramatically in Western Europe. Other causes than those you mentioned may be the use of too much fertilizer and poison in agriculture. There´s a growing awareness that we are destroying the food chain.
people are more conscious of the bees and their disappearance but all the insects are really going south because of our activity :cry:
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Nothing special yesterday. Today a few Broad-bodied Chasers (male and female) and a couple (rare) Small Whitefaces.
This was the last day of my holidays. But tomorrow it´s weekend. :D
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After a dragonfly sheds its larval skin and emerges as a flying insect, the empty skin (exuvium) may be found on a plant in or near the water.
The first photo shows the exuvium of a Blue Emperor. In the second and third photos we see a Four-spotted Chaser that couldn´t get rid of its skin. Its wings have hardened all crooked. It won´t survive to reproduce, probably it will be eaten by a bird or a frog before the day is over.
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:like: :tu:
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:salute:
It´s been a good week. I spotted, and photographed, 24 different species, 6 of them rare. I´m hoping to get 2 more tomorrow but TBH it´s not likely to happen. These 2 usually appear somewhat later in the year but there have been a few sightings already. Unfortunately not where I live.
Today´s Chasers:
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Well I did get one more today. The Small Red Damsel is tiny (30mm) and has a preference for tall grasses, so it is difficult to spot, despite its bright red color.
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:D
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:D :like: :tu:
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Last Saturday, Green-eyed Hawker
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Blue Emperor.
Photobomb (dead): the larval skin shed by an emerging damselfly.
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:like: :tu:
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I take my hat of to you Ron, i found these Dragons very difficult to photograph, i gave up trying to get a decent photo but a short time later one came to me :tu:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1796/29115539178_4d9f4dccf7_z.jpg)
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Very nice, Borg. The ones that come to you are the best. (Except when they come and sit on your right shoulder):
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1. Today, Blue-eyed Damselfly tandem. A rare species in The Netherlands (but not very rare where I live).
2. Today. Black-tailed Skimmer. A very common dragonfly.
3. Day before yesterday. Great Green Bush Cricket
4. Day before yesterday. Scarlet Darter
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Either I was very lucky or I´m getting good at this... Three different hawker species within an hour, all at the same location less than a mile from home.
Top to bottom Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, and Southern Hawker.
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Hairy Hawker today
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Excellent pic Ron. :tu: :tu:
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Thanks zoidberg :cheers:
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Yes, beautiful pics Ron - do you ever blow the pics up and put them on the wall?
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Well, I used to. But after taking more than 10,000 they all look the same. Also, I´ll not be posting as many pics as before, except maybe if I picture a new (to me) species.
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Blue Featherleg and Green-eyed Hawker today.
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Stunning photos as ever Ron. :hatsoff:
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Stunning photos as ever Ron. :hatsoff:
:iagree: Outstanding! :like:
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:cheers:
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One of today´s
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And one from last week
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This one was putting on quite a show, bouncing up and down arse first into the water, i presumed it was laying eggs :dunno:
It didn't really care i was there, it had my phone shoved in its face for a few minutes and didn't bother
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48222391807_4c1dcd5870_z.jpg)
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:like:
That one´s very rare overhere. I never saw it for real.
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On the spotters´ website, my dragonfly pics score maybe 25 hits on average.
This is an exception. Posted in 2013, it was rated 5 stars by 7 people and it just broke 1,000.
Technically, it´s not a very good pic. It is low res, and not sharp enough.
A Brilliant Emerald flying above its mirror image. The water is dead still, and also reflects clouds and some bushes.
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Wow ! great shot Ron !!1 :like:
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Thanks Steve :cheers:
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Ruddy Darter
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:like:
I'm not sure if this is a Damsel or Dragon but i'm guessing both are welcome here :cheers:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48366029112_4c8e7d7ffe_z.jpg)
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A Common Bluet if I´m not mistaken... And yes damsels are as welcome as the real dragons. :like:
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Today´s lucky shot
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Another Migrant Hawker
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It´s been a while since I posted here. With Covid going on and on I haven´t been out much but today my parents and I went for a walk in one of our national parks where my father made this picture of a snake. It was about two feet in length. I had never seen a real snake outside of a zoo, that´s because they´re quite rare in The Netherlands (overhere, skinning one for a new pair of boots is a serious offense). This one was taking a sunbath on the path and moved away when my father made the pic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_snake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Groote_Peel_National_Park
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I've been seeing more in my yard patrolling. I love watching them make circles around my yard looking for prey.