Passing the Winter Months Away!

Brown Hawker Nymph  /  Large Red Damselfly Nymph

Aeshna grandis  -  Pyrrhosoma nymphula

As anyone reading my blog will know my passion for dragonflies and damselflies has gained momentum in the past few years but what do you do in the winter months to pass the winter months away? Well you buy yourself a glass tank, do quite a bit of reading on rearing and photographing dragonfly larvae and go down to the local pond or lake and see what you can find. I am lucky to have permission to catch a few nymphs from Nethergong campsite which has a number of small pools which last year had plenty of odonata there. During trips there I have managed to catch a small Emperor Dragonfly nymph about 15mm long, a 25mm Brown Hawker nymph, 1 Broad bodied Chaser nymph and a few Large Red, Azure and Blue tailed Damselfly. This has presented me with many photographic sessions where I have been able to study these nymphs under the water as they go about their lives. By lighting the tank well and following a few rules I have been very pleased with a number of photos I have been able to take through the glass of the various species. I have not seen the Brown Hawker actually catch anything but have seen it eating the remains of a damselfly nymph and have watched it stalking prey, a sight that many of us have never seen and is very fascinating. The season is not far away now but until then, I will continue to photograph the nymphs and hope in a months time or so I will be able to get some photos of the Large Red Damselflies emerging from either the tank, my pond or at various locals ponds. I will post a few more nymph photos soon.

Brown Hawker Nymph

Large Red Damselfly Nymph

Marc Heath

Females at the „work”...

 Aeshna mixta, Aeshna grandis

The photographic documentation presents two females of two species - Migrant Hawker and Brown Hawker, during oviposition. Both females laid their eggs into the same piece of rotten branch which floated on the water. Photos were made two weeks ago on the Czerwona River near Wieniotowo village (on the coast of the Baltic Sea).

Aeshna mixta

Aeshna grandis

The Czerwona River - a place of our observations

Michał & Piotr

At last, I found one at rest.....but.....

Aeshna grandis

Brown Hawker

Whilst out on my local patch this morning, I at last found a Dragonfly that i have been trying all year to get images of, that is, the Brown Hawker,.....but I had the wrong lens with me! No macro lens just my 400mm prime lens, which will only close focus at 3.5 meters....Aaaaaaagh!  I did however get some sort of photo's, but not what I what I could of achieved had I brought my Macro lens out!

Warren

LA rencontre de la saison !

Elle arrive, massive, couleur tabac avec ses ailes enfumées... Je retiens mon souffle... Je viens de LA reconnaitre, celle que je suis venu chercher, bien loin des Landes, ce 12 août, aux abords de ce lac de tourbière du Puy de Dôme... Elle effectue plusieurs passages, puis un rapide surplace pour me jauger, je vois qu'elle cherche à pondre à l'abri des regards indiscrets dans cette végétation aquatique très dense... Mon Dieu qu'elle est belle, l'Aeshna grandis, l'Aeschne grande !
Je vais garder dans un coin de ma tête, le souvenir de cette première rencontre, impossible à faire dans notre sud ouest, merci belle Aeschne, je reviendrai te voir, promis ! ;-)
Quelques témoignages, dans ces cas là, on aimerait bien prolonger un peu la séance photos, dommage, mais le lendemain une émergence s'est montrée plus coopérative, place aux clichés !

Alain

La grande

Aeshna grandis-Brown hawker-Aeschne grande

Une que je suis allé chercher milieu du mois d'août dans le Massif central.
Magnifique libellule dont les prouesses en vol sont remarquables.
Bien sûr, elle ne se pose pas souvent, les rares fois sont celles
où elle s'arrête pour grignoter. Une préférence pour le mâle mature
qui nous offre des taches bleues le long de l'abdomen.
De jolies ailes fumées enfin.

Olivier Payen