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Drying Out

Discussion

8 replies
Posted by John Robinson on July 5, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Drying Out
Common Hawker
Another from one of the the garden ponds.
had to go out so I missed the open wing stage. Never mind.
D200
150 Sigma
iso 400
125th @f7 two stacked images.
JohnR
Posted by Tom Smit on July 5, 2009 at 3:48 PM
Hi John, again a great picture. The only nit I have is that it looks like ther is a little halo around the top of the head. May it's me.
I hope t o make such picture next year or the year ofter, when my pond is ready to use for these (and other) kind of animals.
:toast: :toast: :toast:
Posted by John Robinson on July 5, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Thanks Tom -well spotted !!
I think its a bit of the eye on the far side but it could be bad stacking.
Cheers
John
Posted by Matt Cole on July 6, 2009 at 5:22 AM
another nice find in your garden John - Common Hawkers are very scarce in my part of the world, in fact there have only ever been 2 confirmed sightings in Leicestershire and one of those was by me (and I have the only confirmed photograph of one in the county!). So I'd be very chuffed to find one in my garden. Although the background is a little cluttered here, the fact that all the stems are moving in the same direction gives quite a nice effect.

Matt
Posted by John Robinson on July 6, 2009 at 6:38 AM
Matt
Could it be Southern maybe ?
Cheers
John
Posted by Matt Cole on July 6, 2009 at 9:25 AM
it's difficult for me to be certain John, the main distinguishing feature of Common Hawkers is that the front leading edge of the wings is yellow (the 'costa'). Here it looks pale but not yellow, but that may be because its colours have not yet matured. Common Hawkers are certainly more common in the west of the UK than in the east, so you probably do get them in your area. If you see a mature one in your garden have a look at the front leading edge of the wings - here's my Leicestershire celebrity common hawker(!):
http://www.mattcolephotography.co.uk/Galleries/insects/Dragonflies%20&%20Damselflies/slides/Common%20Hawker.html

you can see the yellow front edge. If it doesn't have this then it's likely to be a Southern.

Matt
Posted by Tim Taylor on July 6, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Great shot John. I never seem to see them at this stage and certainly never in my ponds (although we get adults).

Tim
Posted by tony flashman on July 6, 2009 at 12:17 PM
I have spent hours this year to try and get this shot with no luck yet. I must admit i would have cancelled going out for a while longer! :biggrin:
The stems in the background do not bother me too much with this shot.

Tony :toast: :toast:
Posted by Justin on July 7, 2009 at 7:19 AM
Good one John :cool:


PS. Not sure what's going on with your Chafinch image, I'm unable to leave a comment on it as the 'Reply' box is unavailable. Seems fine on all the other posts though. Most strange :confused: