Dragonfly Pools at Their Best

Yet another hot still afternoon so off to the Dragonfly pools at Burwash. Plenty of Emperors, Black-tailed Skimmers and Four-Spot Chasers on the move and a single Banded Demoiselle (not photographed). The female Emperor had a hard time egg-laying as she was constantly bombarded by Black Tail Skimmers - no wonder their wings have so many chunks missing. I was shooting at 1/1600 or 1/2000 (1000 iso). The Buzzards were also active plus a nosey Sparrowhawk.

Evening Poppies in Barton

 After giving up on getting any more dragonflies in the frame, I tried a few evening shots of the poppy field - this time using F22 to get maximum depth of field. I ended up with a few fish-eye images to show the extent of the poppies as they stretched into the distance

Burwash Manor Farm

I paid a first visit of the year to the Dragonfly pools at Burwash Manor Farm on Sunday as it was to be a hot 

afternoon. Lots of  Four-Spot Chasers and Emperor Dragonflies around. There is a wonderful poppy field there - I only had a 300mm lens so these are taken lying down and looking through the field.

Macro with Flash

A few shots taken in very windy conditions yesterday using a Speedlight 550 flash with my 100 is macro lens experimenting to see how slow a shutterspeed will work and still give lighting on the background. The slowest shutterspeed here is 1/40th so often not quite enough depth of field.

The Rescue of an Emperor

We saw this Emperor male in the water and thought it was dead but then saw a bit of movement and so fished it out. It rewarded us with great portrait opportunities of a superb dragonfly.

Drama in the Dragonfly Pools

A clear sunny day so I visited the Burwash pools to try and find the Red-eyed Damselflies which is a new species at the pools for me. There were several males, one eating a Mayfly and also a coupled pair .

There were lots of pairs of Common Blue Damselflies but also a lot of extra males who kept trying to get in on the act. This female was being fought over by several males - eventually one got hold of her with his tail and dragged her to safety.

The Right Conditions for Dragonfly Photography

 Today was bright and sunny so a third attempt at Burwash pools. This time - just right as enough wind to cause the dragonflies to 'hover' into the breeze but lots of light so I could use the 300mm plus 1.4 extender. There were lots of Common Darter pairs and also Emperor and Brown Hawker females egg laying. The Emperor males were busy patrolling the pools while a very elegant Emerald Damselfly perched long enough to be snapped.

Different weather - different result

I went back to Burwash dragonfly pools today with the 300mm lens but it was mainly overcast, cool and windy so only one Hawker active over the water. I am pleased with the shot. This was taken at a 1/2000th - same shutterspeed as yesterday's Emperor but the wingbeat of the Migrant Hawker is obviously much faster.

Dragonfly Pools Burwash Farm Barton

I made my first proper visit to Burwash Pools today and was amazed by the amount of water everywhere. There was a lot of dragonfly activity and I photographed two new species for my records of the area - the Migrant Hawker and the Brown Hawker. Many of the insects were very damaged though still managing to fly - I guess the result of the heavy rain recently. Species in order Male Emperor Dragonfly,  Pair of Common Darters, Four-Spot Chaser, Pair of Emerald Damselflies, Male Migrant Hawker, Ruddy Darter, Female Brown Hawker, Common Blue Butterflies and an inquisitive cow.