Male blue damsel fly

Thankyou for the response to the lightening blip yesterday, we even made spotlight!

I was going to write that today's session at the stream was a bit slow, but I did end up with fourteen shots to choose from in an hour, so I guess I'll shut up and stop whinging. After many bumper blip safaris this month, I start to expect the trend to continue. Boy! Am I in for a rude awakening when I get back to England!

I picked off three different damsel flies this morning, of which I liked this shot the best. I nailed the focus and the wings appear to be shimmering. In fact there are water droplets on the wings, surprised that they are not shaken off in flight as the damsel was quite active.

Damsels are amazing to watch in flight, they look like a skinny match stick suspended from a thread. They move through the air slowly and with great precision. Because of the subtle movements they are difficult to spot, hovering very close to the ground.

They are easy to photograph, allowing you to get to minimum focal distance, as long as you don't make any sudden moves. If the pose is not to your liking, you can even disturb them into flight and have another go.

Because they are so slim and delicate, focusing has to be very precise, also you rarely find them in the glare of the sun, preferring the gloomy shadows, giving lighting and exposure problems. But if you get the lighting right, they display such wonderful colors and I love the details on the eyes.

I know this is the male because of the 25th March blip of the damsels getting jiggy. It was a full slither for this shot, so I hope you like it.

Update - Identification - Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur, 1842)

I have put today's rejects in folio for those of you interested. The last two images are spider shots, so beware!

Dave