A Change Of Focus
This year so far I have been more focused on bird photography although I still keep a watchful eye on the invertebrate activity even though I do find it difficult to multi-task as my eyes and ears are primarily tuned in to the birdlife…
Being a bit of a novice concerning dragonflies, I believe this specimen to be a female Black-tailed Skimmer…
Electric Dreams
After unsuccessfully trying to capture images of the abundant hawker dragonflies at rest on the sandy ground, I glanced up to see a line of them along the electric fence, signalling to each other with their wings… 😕
An Evening in the Lanes
When the weather is so hot as it has been the last weeks I tend to spend more time in the narrow lanes between the pastures…the lanes are all lined with trees and vegetation and are a good place to search for various insects and birds, also providing a pleasant alternative and shelter from the oppressive heat of the marsh and open pasture. Lately I have found a couple of quite narrow lanes such as the one shown in the image below which I assume is meant to be a footpath….the route is lined with tree roots making the way quite bumpy and potentially very wet if I lose my concentration for a split second. 😉
Small fields seperated by lines of trees make a perfect habitat for the buzzard…I seem to hear them quite a lot at the moment…this young buzzard was soaring about making himself heard…
If you look carefully in the top left-hand corner of this last image you can see one of the many dragonflies that were hunting in the lanes.
A Passing Glance
One quick passing glance was enough for me to pursue this four-spotted chaser which soon came to rest just long enough for me to get a few quick shots…this may well be the most exquisite creature I have ever encountered… 😎
Under the Radar
Sitting next to the lake I was pondering on how dragonflies always seem to keep their distance from me, avoiding my eager lens for two whole years, when I noticed a keeled skimmer systematically patrolling the margins and repeatedly returning to the same spot to observe the view…
After making several (clumsy) attempts to photograph the skimmer without any results at all…I returned to my seat to rethink my strategy…
Crawling on my belly was the only real option that remained…keeping low to avoid the dragonflies’ highly advanced detection system. 😉
Diamonds in the Rough
In late summer the heathland is buzzing with life, the heather is in bloom and attracts all sorts of butterflies, bees and hoverflies as well as damselflies and dragonflies…so it seemed a good idea to pay this small area of heathland a timely visit.
It was a perfect situation as I surveyed the territory, stepping carefully through the heather to capture what was possible…dragonfly reconnaissance kept a watchful eye on my movements while managing to avoid getting caught in the frame. 😉
a heartical view 