2011 News

Dragon Hunting Part2

03/08/2011
Seeing Eye to Eye with a Common Darter
Face to Face with Dragons
By 9am I had met Jon and we were on the M1 south of Dundalk. Already the temperature gauge read into the high teens. There was barely a cloud and only a light breeze, perfect conditions for the quest.

The first site was only ten minutes from the motorway. It’s a location I had visited a few years ago so I knew it good potential. Sun cream on and cameras ready it was off into the field.

Within minutes I was face to face with my first dragon of the day, a Common Darter. Then there was another and another. We were surrounded by them. It was time to get shooting.

Moving slowly it was possible to get really close to dragonflies, but it is often better to find a favoured perch, sit back and let them come to you. This a strategy that worked with this photograph.

As lovely and obliging as the Common Darters were I can see them close to home. It was other species I was after – rarer and sometimes much larger!
More photographs of the Common Darters can be found on my Flickrphoto stream found on the links page above.

Red Kite in Autumn

Capturing the Beauty of Nature
Capturing the Beauty of Nature