Yes, my first sighting of a damselfly was on Saturday and it was on Teeside. As THE Howdon Blogger and i admired the Common Terns not far from the Greatham Creek car park a teneral caught my eye. I haven't a clue what it was but it was a damselfly at last for me. I haven't gone out of my way so far this year to seek them out and when i've been out recently it has been generally cold. Last Thursday for example i didn't see my first butterfly until after 2 p.m. due to the overcast and chilly conditions. I quickly saw (in order of appearance) Blue-tailed, Common Blue and Large Red. Yee haa.
Having visited a few sites birding we eventually landed at Saltholme. I saw my first dragonfly of the year there, four Four-spot Chasers were doing what it says on the tin and busy chasing each other about. I also saw my first damselfly casualty, a female Blue-tailed who was taken whilst in the grasp of her partner. She had been ovipositing and a diving beetle had grabbed her from below. The male was trying to lift her from the water but after a couple of minutes released hold of her and flew alone to safety.
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| On a break between chasing. |
Stunning shot John, mine are still in my camera, probably wont get to them till Wednesday
ReplyDeleteCome on now, don't let that work thing get in the way !
ReplyDeleteNice one John, have to admit I'm pretty jealous as last week for me was a non-starter for dragonhunting and I don't see this week being much better :-(
ReplyDeleteI agree, a stunning shot John. I need some practice with Dragonflies .......and perhaps a new lens!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan, nice to get the monkey off my back. You look to have a busy couple of weeks ahead.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comment Brian. I was kinda cursing on Saturday as the forecast wasn't brilliant (again) so i didn't take my macro, which hasn't been seen out for ages. I actually took this image with my 300mm f4. I'm quite pleased with what i captured.