Dragontowne: A resident goes out for dinner
Jan 3, 2020 02:04:30 #
In the first picture is a female baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca sp.). It could be one of a few species; a common baskettail, beaverpond, or spiny. They are famously hard to tell apart without very close inspection.
Baskettail by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
More spatterdock darners (Rhionaeschna mutata ) are up next. First is a lovely female.
Spatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Spatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
I have mentioned a new park a few times. Near the close of the day at the same park I was packing up my gear and preparing to go home when a spatterdock cruised across the parking lot while clearly carrying a large… something. It settled into the weeds and I retrieved the camera to check it out. It was a male, and he was eating another dragonfly – possibly it was a blue dasher. If you look carefully at the first picture you can see that the spatterdocks’ mouth is surprisingly wide. It was steadily stuffing the meal down its gaping maw. I managed to get in pretty close as he was finishing up. What a glutton!
A big meal! by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Spatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Some species of dragonflies seem rather restricted to particular locations. One of my favorite Odes are the uniquely beautiful racket-tailed emerald dragonflies (Dorocordulia libera), and these I only see at a particular park during a fairly restricted time in the summer. I showed pictures of this species from the previous summer, but those were females. Here is a male. Several emerald species have metallic green on their thorax, and that is clearly shown in this one.
Racket-tailed emerald by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Baskettail by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrMore spatterdock darners (Rhionaeschna mutata ) are up next. First is a lovely female.
Spatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrSpatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrI have mentioned a new park a few times. Near the close of the day at the same park I was packing up my gear and preparing to go home when a spatterdock cruised across the parking lot while clearly carrying a large… something. It settled into the weeds and I retrieved the camera to check it out. It was a male, and he was eating another dragonfly – possibly it was a blue dasher. If you look carefully at the first picture you can see that the spatterdocks’ mouth is surprisingly wide. It was steadily stuffing the meal down its gaping maw. I managed to get in pretty close as he was finishing up. What a glutton!
A big meal! by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrSpatterdock darner by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrSome species of dragonflies seem rather restricted to particular locations. One of my favorite Odes are the uniquely beautiful racket-tailed emerald dragonflies (Dorocordulia libera), and these I only see at a particular park during a fairly restricted time in the summer. I showed pictures of this species from the previous summer, but those were females. Here is a male. Several emerald species have metallic green on their thorax, and that is clearly shown in this one.
Racket-tailed emerald by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrJan 3, 2020 04:00:54 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
In the first picture is a female baskettail dragon... (show quote)
Cool pics. What lense and did you crop? Great pics
Jan 3, 2020 07:07:49 #
Great shots - will repeat part of what DrBob asked - what lens and camera?
Jan 3, 2020 07:34:58 #
An outstanding set Mark. Excellent quality shots of each species but I wouldn't venture a guess on your Epitheca especially a female. Nice capture of the cannibalistic Rhionaeschna mutata. I really enjoyed this set my friend. Best of luck in the upcomming flight season.
-Doc
-Doc
Jan 3, 2020 10:17:41 #
Jan 3, 2020 10:34:12 #
Jan 3, 2020 11:47:47 #
Drbobcameraguy wrote:
Cool pics. What lense and did you crop? Great pics
I'm a canon person. The lens was the 100-400mm mark ii, with the Tamron 1.4x tele-converter. I always crop as well.
Jan 3, 2020 21:19:32 #
Jan 4, 2020 08:08:28 #
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Jan 17, 2020 00:07:12 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
In the first picture is a female baskettail dragon... (show quote)
I especially love the first shot!
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