There Be Dragons Here..........

[Diminuendo]

I have a few photos to share with you of a creature that I have come to love. The more I see of them the more I want to see. I am lucky enough to live near a couple of places that have these fantastic creatures in abundance. Take a look at the craftsmanship in the bodywork.
Dragonflies...........................


This is a male Broad Bodied Chaser.

Female Broad Bodied Chaser. This one Muttley and I spotted near Silverstone. I reckon it could outdo those F1 cars anyday. They are the most fantastic flyers.

I am not sure what breed this is, I am still trying to work it out, it's a hawker, but which sort I don't know. Female laying her eggs.

Another Broad Bodied Chaser. I took this one yesterday . This beauty has spotted something on the other side of the reed.

Here she is again with her prey!

Another of the female. What a beauty.

 

[cricketfan]

Great pics. Did you use a top notch camera for those, or did you just get a bit lucky ?

 

[Colin Phillips]

The harder she works the luckier she gets.

 

[Colin Phillips]

How do you spot a hawker from a chaser?

 

[Diminuendo]

The harder she works the luckier she gets.

Thanks for that Colin!

Cricketfan, the camera is pretty good, but these sort of pics are down to the type of lens used. To get these pics I used a quality lens and a bit of patience.

Colin, chasers have quite stocky bodies and hawkers have long slender ones. Both are pretty big in size.

Here is a link to a page with the UK species on to help.

UK Dragonflies

 

[Kathy]

The intricate detail on the wings is amazing. Great photos Diminuendo! I especially love the photo of the female with her prey.

 

[Griffin]

I love Dragon Flies. We went strawberry picking yesterday and the girls were stood watching one for ages. Beautiful creatures.

 

[Diminuendo]

The one I didn't know is a female Emperor Dragonfly. So I am sure that will help a lot of you sleep tonight.