Communal Dragonfly, Butterfly and Insect photo thread

[art frames]

Originally Posted by bredman

My not so expert guess from the shot is a male nymph speckled bushcricket.

Thanks Pete. I have looked at several pictures and that is the clearest. So I will use that as my ID. I have had similar in the garden, so will try and find those pictures and compare.

I may need to get a book or find a good website.

Every time you say Conehead. It makes me think of Conehead the Barbarian...

[David M]

Originally Posted by art frames

Thanks Pete. I have looked at several pictures and that is the clearest. So I will use that as my ID. I have had similar in the garden, so will try and find those pictures and compare.

I may need to get a book or find a good website.

Every time you say Conehead. It makes me think of Conehead the Barbarian...

Coneheads was also a sci fi comedy with Dan Akroyd. It started off as a sketch on Saturday Night Live and later a film.

[DavyG]

Another couple from the E510 archives.

Roesel's Bush Cricket:



Hairy Dragonfly:



Thanks for looking.

Dave

[art frames]

Originally Posted by art frames

Pete, Ralph

Two lovely grasshoppers. Have you any of the ones I see with blue wings? That may only be in France. Not a species I have studied but they are lovely subjects.

...Ralph, thanks for posting please don't hold back. I have been amazed at the variety and enthusiasm for the subject. The more the better.

regards

I have been looking for information myself and found this very lovely picture on Wikipedia (it has creative commons permission to reuse it when attributed - it was taken in Toulouse, France by Didier Descouens and you can see it here )

I believe it is also found in the UK. But it must be hard to photograph as the blue wings are only seen as it flies away. I see them regularly in France, but maybe this will give a visual reminder...?

[art frames]

Originally Posted by DavyG

Another couple from the E510 archives.

Hairy Dragonfly:



Thanks for looking.

Dave

Dave

This is a splendid 'hairy'. The bracken/fern gives it energy and some great textures and shapes. The E510 was a good camera which worked really well in your hands. Do you still use it?

I shot my first confirmed hairy dragonfly this year, I may have seen them before but I set out to an appropriate site where they were active to ensure I could verify what I saw. I confess that I was expecting more hair, and feel I have pictures of other species that are far more hirsuite.

So I will look out a few pictures of hairy, non hairy dragonfly shots and you will see why I was indecisive about ID.

[art frames]

Originally Posted by DavyG

As requested, a few E1 images.

Small Red Eye Damselfly:



Thanks for looking.

Dave

Dave

To me this picture is a great shot of a perky little red eye. Not sure what lens you are using with the E1 here but the colour, background blur and separation is superb. It feels natural and something alive you could reach out and touch.

I sold my E1 because the screen on the back was small and difficult to check, I feel I gained a bigger screen and lost so much more.

[DavyG]

Originally Posted by art frames

Dave

This is a splendid 'hairy'. The bracken/fern gives it energy and some great textures and shapes. The E510 was a good camera which worked really well in your hands. Do you still use it?

I shot my first confirmed hairy dragonfly this year, I may have seen them before but I set out to an appropriate site where they were active to ensure I could verify what I saw. I confess that I was expecting more hair, and feel I have pictures of other species that are far more hirsuite.

So I will look out a few pictures of hairy, non hairy dragonfly shots and you will see why I was indecisive about ID.

Thanks Peter,

The E510 was a good camera, unfortunately I sold it when I purchased my E-M1.

We did hold on to the unused E1 and my wife's E520 however, we've used neither since buying our OMD's.

I look forward to seeing your dragonfly shots.

Dave

[DavyG]

Originally Posted by art frames

Dave

To me this picture is a great shot of a perky little red eye. Not sure what lens you are using with the E1 here but the colour, background blur and separation is superb. It feels natural and something alive you could reach out and touch.

I sold my E1 because the screen on the back was small and difficult to check, I feel I gained a bigger screen and lost so much more.

Thanks again Peter,

This was taken with a ZD 14-54 on my E1, I think it was a great lens.

This pic was actually the first damselfly/dragonfly I'd ever taken and was the one responsible for sparking my interest in them.

I didn't know anything about damselflies or dragonflies at that stage so was unaware that the Small Red Eyed Damselfly was quite rare.

Dave

[art frames]

Originally Posted by art frames

I will look out a few pictures of hairy, non hairy dragonfly shots

Assuming my IDs are correct here is a very hairy Four-spot. As hairy as a badgers privates...

Four-spot Chaser Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

And here is a less hairy, Hairy Dragonfly...to me anyway

Hairy Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

Sometimes the name we have now is a corruption of a more meaningful name from the past, but several websites say you can identify the Hairy Dragonfly by the fact that it has a very hairy thorax....

I know the colour difference is a help here! but it was the hairiest I could find quickly....

[DavyG]

Originally Posted by art frames

Assuming my IDs are correct here is a very hairy Four-spot. As hairy as a badgers privates...

Four-spot Chaser Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

And here is a less hairy, Hairy Dragonfly...to me anyway

Hairy Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

Sometimes the name we have now is a corruption of a more meaningful name from the past, but several websites say you can identify the Hairy Dragonfly by the fact that it has a very hairy thorax....

I know the colour difference is a help here! but it was the hairiest I could find quickly....

Two excellent images Peter, the Four Spot is a beauty.

Was the Hairy Dragonfly in the process of eating a damselfly? I notice the tail of one beneath the dragonfly's left wing.

The other ways of identifying the Hairy is that it's the smallest of the Hawkers and normally emerges before the others.

I'm always happy to see them, it usually means summer's here.

Dave

[art frames]

Originally Posted by DavyG

I didn't know anything about damselflies or dragonflies at that stage so was unaware that the Small Red Eyed Damselfly was quite rare.

Dave

I don't think we get Small Red Eyes in Northants, just the Red Eyes. So I will have a look for them on my travels.

I prefer to add a few species at a time, and then try to ID them. Rarity for me tends to be what I haven't yet seen, but isn't a big draw.

I see a lot of folks now twitching butterflies and then tagging them. They usually look very different to most naturalists I know. But anything that helps to bring more people to help conservation is good.

Peter

[art frames]

Originally Posted by DavyG

Was the Hairy Dragonfly in the process of eating a damselfly? I notice the tail of one beneath the dragonfly's left wing.

Dave - I have gone through the six pictures I took and yes i believe in the first two it is eating a damsel. In subsequent pictures bits of wings are evident until in this last picture it has all gone. I didn't see that before, certainly not when I was taking the pictures.

all gone...


Hairy Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

This was in July. I myself use butterflies to know when it is summer, the Orange Tips and then Duke of Burgundies as the early signs and suddenly it is everything at once. But not for a while now

[Barr1e]

Here is a sad looking Red Admiral Anne (Ann1e) and I spotted today. Before we could change lenses and get a better opportunity to take it, a bee buzzed it rather forcefully and we lost the chance of 'the pic of the day'. Although I think Anne trumped me with her capture.



Olympus OM-D E-M1 + 40-150 lens

Regards. Barr1e

[art frames]

Originally Posted by Barr1e

Here is a sad looking Red Admiral Anne (Ann1e) and I spotted today. Before we could change lenses and get a better opportunity to take it, a bee buzzed it rather forcefully and we lost the chance of 'the pic of the day'. Although I think Anne trumped me with her capture.

Regards. Barr1e

Hi Barrie and Anne

Just an old campaigner, nothing sad about him...and the 40-150 is a great butterfly lens. I use mine all of the time, having found that macro lenses even the longer 150mm one tends to give me issues with wingtip focus.

Please help us survive the winter by posting some more summer butterflies

[DavyG]

Originally Posted by art frames

Dave - I have gone through the six pictures I took and yes i believe in the first two it is eating a damsel. In subsequent pictures bits of wings are evident until in this last picture it has all gone. I didn't see that before, certainly not when I was taking the pictures.

all gone...


Hairy Dragonfly by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

This was in July. I myself use butterflies to know when it is summer, the Orange Tips and then Duke of Burgundies as the early signs and suddenly it is everything at once. But not for a while now

That was a good capture, I don't recall capturing a pic of one of these eating.

Looking at the size of the damselflies tail, I'd guess it may have been a Large Red Damselfly as these tend to emerge around the same time as the hairy Dragonflies.

Hopefully summer and the butterflies will be back before we know it.

Dave