Monday 17 August 2009

Old Moor RSPB, dragonflies

On Saturday we visited Dearne Valley Old Moor RSPB Nature Reserve for the first time & enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of sunshine & sightings. One highlight was the dragonflies. We were able to get within a close proximity of these two. I'd welcome feedback please as I'm still finding identification a little tricky, but hopefully I'm getting there. I think both are Common Darters. The male with the red-orange abdomen & the female with the yellowish brown abdomen. The thorax of both sexes is brown with yellow panels on the side & the yellow stripe on the legs distinguish it from a Ruddy Darter.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Male

The following are all Common Darters, female

I love the way the wings glisten in the sunshine

6 comments:

  1. Really beautiful pictures. Excellent to have them perching on the flowerheads. They are male and female Common Darters.

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  2. What fantastic photographs, you must be very pleased!

    Pam

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  3. Thanks all, we were really lucky to have them perch for so long & were pleased with how the pics turned out. If you take enough then your bound to get a few nice ones. Thanks to Emma for helping confirm the identities. L

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  4. A terrific series of dragon photos.

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