Elusive - certainly from a photographic point of view.
Whenever I see the Brown Hawker, they are always flying and rarely if ever pitched on anything. I have watched them on many an occasion, continuously flying up and down a pathway or on a riverbank and never pitching. They are not easy to shoot flying either as they never hover very much in one place.
So I was fortunate yesterday to see one pitching high up in a tall hedgerow.
It remained there for about a two minutes. So I made the best of the opportunity by shooting away with two different cameras of which these images where the best.
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| Lumix G3. 45-200mm lens. 1/80 at f5.2. 140mm. ISO160 |
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| Nikon D7000. 70-300mm lens. 1/50 at f10. 300mm. ISO400 |
The Brown Hawker is a common and widespread species. It is approximately 73 mm in length and both the male and female have yellow stripes down the side of the thorax. The male has an obvious waist behind the rear wings that can be observed on these images, whereas the female has not.
Easily identified generally as there is no other species like it and the wings glisten golden brown in the bright sunlight.
You may have also observed that this one had pitched because it was eating, as it had just caught and was devouring a poor damselfly.
Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve.
DeleteExcellent photos Roy !!! As you say this particular Dragonfly species is a real swine to photograph as they rarely seem to settle for long, and I am very envious of your images ;-)
ReplyDeleteRegards,
David
Thanks David, I had to get some luck sometime with this one, I have certainly missed them many times.
DeleteNice images. Have you ever gone out at dawn and tried to find them covered in dew? They don't move at that time of day.
ReplyDeleteThanks John, no I have not tried that yet.{:)
DeleteHey Roy...The first thing I noticed was the glistening golden brown color of the wings..very pretty!! Nice catch!
ReplyDeleteIs that what you would call a damsel in distress!! : }
Grace
Thanks GG, I think she is a bit more than distressed now. {:)
DeleteSome nice photos there Roy, I think I've only seen a couple of dragonflies all summer. I am seeing a few butterflies now though especially gatekeepers - still not exactly clouds of them though!
ReplyDeleteHope you aren't getting half a dozen versions of this Roy - I keep pressing publish and nothing is happening as far as I can see!
Thanks D, no I only got one version thanks.
DeleteThere are a few more about of various species now, but its to late to make up the numbers I think this year.
I'm glad you found one that wss holding still for you. It has beautiful wings with the gold color. It is hard when they move constantly. There is a type I see here that never seems to sit anywhere. I've only once gotten a photo and yet I see them all the time. Frustrating!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary, yes this one normally, never stops. I think it is only the second time I have been able to successfully photograph one.
DeleteI was just thinking how hard it was to take photos of dragonflies, but then you said about it stopping for a meal. I learned something new today, I didn't know they were carnivores. Great photos as always!
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise, yes they eat anything smaller than themselves I think.
Delete