The Beauty of Dragons, part 3

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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MarkSturtevant
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The Beauty of Dragons, part 3

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Here are some more dragonflies from last summer.

Viewers in the U.S. would be familiar with the common green darner (Anax junius). But this very similar species is the closely related comet darner (A. longipes). Like many before me, I am sure, I at first thought it was (merely) another green darner. Only after taking pictures of it, I was very surprised to see that it was an interesting new species!
ImageComet darner dragonfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

One of our most boldly marked dragonflies is the midland clubtail (Gomphurus fraternus). This one is in an 'obelisk' position, where it aims its abdomen at the sun in order to avoid overheating by reducing its exposure to the sun.
ImageMidland clubtail dragonfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Next is another species of darner dragonfly called the spatterdock darner (Rhionaeschna mutata).
ImageSpatterdock darner dragonfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Some species of dragonflies will land frequently enough, and those are generally not too hard to photograph. Others seem to fly all day long once they are mature. The above spatterdock darner is one example. That was a young male, but in a few days I doubt I would be able to get its picture except in the early morning, and then only by having some good luck.

One of the most challenging of all species in my area is the prince baskettail (Epitheca princeps). This medium-sized dragonfly is not common (at least to me), and it will fly all day far up into the air. But one day I came across a group of several of them flying well above the trees, patrolling back and forth to catch small flying insects. I noticed that on some occasions they would swoop down low to my level. I was not expecting to be successful, but I managed to catch one in a butterfly net! Now what? I improvised a staged shot, and once that was ready I briefly chilled the dragonfly on ice, then posed it for the final picture. It seemed to do no harm because it soon flew away, and I got a picture of a species that I may never get again.
ImagePrince baskettail by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Nice photos and post, as always Mark!

anvancy
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Post by anvancy »

The first photo is incredible! Fascinating colors.
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Yawns
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Post by Yawns »

We look to have like 65 species in Portugal.. Dragons + Damsels. (mind you Portugal is relatively small.. only 25% of California)
But I only have photos of maybe 10 species.
It's a very catchy subject, for the colors and the unusual shape, but they are pretty hard to get.
Besides that 90% of my findings is the same species.. looks like around my home there's only a variety of Sympetrum, so in a certain way I stooped too look for boredom... I always presume it's another sympetrum...

Recently 2 enthusiasts published a book charting all the species we have in our country and I got the book, so now I know where are the good spots in my area and what I can find there. This season I will try to do better...

The green one in this post has quite uncommon colors (to me) but the one I really like is the last one.
Good work

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

Yawns wrote:We look to have like 65 species in Portugal.. Dragons + Damsels. (mind you Portugal is relatively small.. only 25% of California)
But I only have photos of maybe 10 species.
It's a very catchy subject, for the colors and the unusual shape, but they are pretty hard to get.
Besides that 90% of my findings is the same species.. looks like around my home there's only a variety of Sympetrum, so in a certain way I stooped too look for boredom... I always presume it's another sympetrum...

Recently 2 enthusiasts publish a book charting all the species we have in our country and I got the book, so now I know where are the good spots in my area and what I can find there. This season I will try to do better...

The green one in this post has quite uncommon colors (to me) but the one I really like is the last one.
Good work
Thank you. I am slowly learning their ways, which helps in encountering new species. Besides the obvious, which is that they are near water (with some species favoring rivers while others stay at lakes and ponds), dragons often spend time away from water as they mature. So there are fields and woodland trails near water to check out. Then there is time of day or other conditions effecting light and temperature. This I had not realized until recently. Many of the more challenging species mainly fly in the mornings, or at dusk, or on cloudy days. Outside of those instances they retreat to the tree canopy.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Very nice pictures.

Dragonflies and damselflies are also some of my favourite targets.
A few years ago I moved close to a lake and a little stream with several species. I am just in the process of learning to recognise them.

In Denmark we have a growing public interest in this group of incests. It in reinforced by publication of popular guides in danish with quality photographs, invention of new danish names for all species and keys using easily observable caracters.

Some univerty entomologists have built a very popular web service where you opload a picture and then get the best possible identification - or a qualifyed diskussion. They get several thousands observations in their database each year, and frequently with species new to Denmark. Kind of citicen science.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums

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