My OperaThe Birth of a Dragonfly (photo special)
Sunday, July 3, 2011 10:53:40 PM
Our garden pond has been hiding secrets for the past year; secrets in the form of larvae of the common darter dragonfly. The larvae develop for about a year before emerging, lurking deep in the murkiness of the pond. For the past couple of days I've noticed them crawling to the fringes of the pond, and this morning two more were making the journey. To help them I placed a couple of sticks at the edge of the pond. They took the hint. The photos that follow show some highlights from a much longer sequence, which also includes video (yet to be edited). The sequence shown lasted about 40 minutes. It was another hour or so before it took its first flight.
Ascending the stick
Breaking out
The pale 'arm' you can see is the tightly packed wings
Watching them I wondered how they would get themselves the right way up. This clip shows how. It's an extract from the much longer sequence I filmed, but that will take me time to edit. It shows the second of the two dragonflies I was watching.
Back to the main subject, now the right way up.
The wings have extended, but are still milky.
15 minutes later
This last shot is one of the other emerging darters (it was resting before its first flight). Just my way of signing off! I'll try to sort the full video out over the next week (it will take a while, a lot to edit).
Camera note: all shots and video clip taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
Ascending the stick Breaking out The pale 'arm' you can see is the tightly packed wingsWatching them I wondered how they would get themselves the right way up. This clip shows how. It's an extract from the much longer sequence I filmed, but that will take me time to edit. It shows the second of the two dragonflies I was watching.
Back to the main subject, now the right way up.
The wings have extended, but are still milky. 15 minutes laterThis last shot is one of the other emerging darters (it was resting before its first flight). Just my way of signing off! I'll try to sort the full video out over the next week (it will take a while, a lot to edit).
Camera note: all shots and video clip taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.
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