Dunyeats nature reserve revisited
Yesterday, a lovely sunny day, saw a return to Dunyeats nature reserve and a complete contrast in activity from the last time. This time around there were large numbers of dragonflies and damsels on the wing over the small pond, along with butterflies and other insects close by so as result there was a good number of photo opportunities to be had, particularly of dragonflies when they decided to land! It’s also worth mentioning that there were a large number of amphibians in the form tiny frogs, although I failed to get a decent enough shot of a frog to show here.
I concentrated on photographing the different dragonflies, so of the damsels and other insects there are just 3 shots:
An Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)
a pair of mating Crane Flies (Tipulidae)
and a Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi).
Now on to the dragonflies, of which I managed to photo 5 different species.
1. Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).
Both shots are of the male.
2. Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)
I now think this is a Black-tailed Skimmer instead of another male Keeled Skimmer. This is based on my brother mentioning that the Black-tailed Skimmer has a distinct black tipped blue abdomen to that of a Keeled Skimmer, which is the case here when comparing the abdomen tip to the previous two above.
3. Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata).
Photographed at least 3 in different poses and compositions.
4. Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
5. Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa)
The last shot of this post is of a Dragonfly larval case (exuvia), which dragonflies emerge from.
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