Everything is Permuted

Tales of a South Downs fox... and other ramblings

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Posts tagged with "dragonfly"

More Gulls and a couple of surprises

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I'm still hammering away at long exposure shots of seagulls. It suits the time of year, and I wasn't able to get out in the brief period of sunshine we had in the middle of the day. So more blurs to puzzle over!






I promised a couple of surprises as well.

The first was in the pond just a few minutes ago. I noticed something moving on the surface. On closer inspection it turned out to be a dragonfly struggling to free itself from the weed. I helped it on to a small piece of bark (which it gripped) and transported to a bush so that it could dry off. It seems exceptionally late in the year, and I'm not sure of the species. I really don't expect to be photographing dragonflies at this time of year, but it says something for the unusually mild weather we've been having (despite the fogs).


The second surprise is from last night's trailcam. It's Shutterbug with a companion. They've been together several times recently. A promising sign for this time of year.. bigsmile


Last up is not so much a surprise, but a rarety for the blog. It's yours truly taken a few nights ago while I was photographing Shutterbug. The trailcam was set, and fired a few shots while I was doing the same. Not often that I get the wrong side of the camera!



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Camera note: gulls taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Dragonfly and fox taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens. Trail cam images by the Bushnell Trophy Cam.

Slaugham Lake

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We returned to Slaugham lake today (pronounced Sloffam). It's an idyllic setting in the Sussex countryside, very peaceful with barely anyone around. it makes a change from the much busier coastal locations.






No kingfisher photos today (I saw one but all too briefly), but there were other good sightings. Once again the treecreepers played hide and seek in the woodland shade.




Numerous dragonflies were equally evasive, flitting between the reeds or resting in the shallows. This first is (I think) a southern hawker.


And this is (again a somewhat tentative identification) a female brown hawker.


I may have failed with the kingfisher, but the female great spotted woodpecker was a little more cooperative this time, perching out in plain view. She wasn't there long, but it was long enough.




There are surprisngly few ducks on the lake, but we did see a pair of herons and some great crested grebes. The other ever-present species are sparrows; so many of them that it's impossible to move without a flurry of feather appearing from the hedgerow. These three decided to pose on an overhanging branch.


I'll close with a shot of the small (disused?) boathouse.

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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens, with the exception of the first image which was taken with the EF17-40mm f/4L USM lens.
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Dragonfly (Common Darter)

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Just a few shots today, taken early this evening, of a common darter that I spotted resting on a branch of our small apple tree.







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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Buzzards, Hawkmoths, Horses and more dragonfly nymphs

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I went out in search of the local field foxes today. The buzzards (which live on the other side of the field) were being extremely cooperative while I was waiting, and several were cruising overhead in the warm sunshine.








I was also able to get closer to the horses that occasionally feature in some of my photos across the fields. They're fine looking animals, and the light was excellent.


There were plenty of rabbits too, but the foxes failed to put in a appearance.

Back home it was another day of insects. Several hummingbird hawk-moths were feeding on the lavender.






And tonight the pond promises more dragonflies. I've just counted five nymphs slowly crawling their way out the water.


'Before and After' shot
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Camera note: buzzard and horse shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The garden photos (hawk-moth and nymphs) were taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

The Birth of a Dragonfly (photo special)

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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).

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Camera note: all shots and video clip taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.