Hunting With The Damselflies

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

I have been watching these beautiful damselflies for quite  sometime as they flitter about my garden pond. The are on the hunt. They will find a favourite perch and then when a small fly comes into their airspace they make a go of catching it. They are not always succesful, but this one was. I think it may have caught a plant louse of some kind, and it didn’t waste any of it.

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Quite messy eaters though. You got a bit stuck there … yes just there … above your top lip …

Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.

Rear garden, Staffordshire, England. July 2017.

by Categories: Animals, Animals (Invertebrates), Dragonflies, Garden, Garden Pond, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Photography, Wildlife PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 35 Comments

35 thoughts on “Hunting With The Damselflies”

  2. Great shots Pete. I tried to take a macro shot of an amazing spider this morning with my zoom lens but it was rubbish. I even used the flash (like you said you did in another post) and it was still rubbish. Lesson learned – can’t do macro with an 18-300 😉

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    • Thank you, Alba 🙂 I have tried with my 70 to 300mm, and it is pretty good for butterflies, dragonflies and flower blooms, but anything smaller, like you say, rubbish.

      If you really want to get closer, like to the spider you mentioned, a dedicated macro lens is your best bet. They are not always cheap, but I found the Sigma reasonably priced and a very good lens, especially when coupled with a dedicated flash system 🙂

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      • I have a 50mm Pentax which is great for portrait and a 90mm Tamron which is amazing for anything really but I had the zoom on the camera and just grabbed it.
        I need to go dedicated insect hunting 😉

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      • I don’t have a 50mm prime, but an 18 to 55mm kit lens, which is okay for general photography. The Tamron sounds like a really good piece of kit.

        That can be a problem if you don’t have the lens you need at the time and place you need it most. I have tried snapping birds with my macro, and it just doesn’t work unless you are virtually staring them in the face 🙂

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    • We call them collectively dragonflies, too. But damselflies have a suborder (Zygoptera) all of their own, such are their differences when compared to the true dragonflies. Thank you 🙂

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    • Happy to make you laugh, Jane 🙂 I was lucky with this one. He decided to come and pull up a leaf at the side of me to dine out. All I had to do was shove my camera in his face. He didn’t seem to mind. It must have been one tasty fly. Thank you for your comment 🙂

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