It never occurred to me ..

[Cobra]

What was happening, had just happened .
I was sat down by my pond earlier this morning,
and I saw this little fella, clinging to the small fuchsia hedge at the edge of my pond, vibrating its wings.
The sun hadn't quite reached the spot, so I assumed it had spent the night out, pond side, and was just warming up to move on.
Once it was on the PC at full size it was obvious what had just happened ...



I will never understand how the hell they do this ..

 

[cruso]

Very nice with some luck you may see some more

 

[Cobra]

Very nice with some luck you may see some more

Cheers Kevin, I'm now keeping an eye out
I did see a female egg laying in my pond a couple of years ago.
And as I understand it it can take years before the Nymphs change.

 

[Nod]

It can indeed. However, there can be a spike in emergences, so since you've had one, you may well get more soon.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Great to find this in the garden m8

Paul.

 

[Deleted member 3428]

Nice when you are lucky enough to get a squeaky clean new insect. Well done Matey.

 

[alfbranch]

Get out early if you are soon enough you may see one crawl out. I have once but have seen a few it is fascinating to watch.
Nice shot.
Have searched for other exuvia to see if you missed some.

 

[Cobra]

there can be a spike in emergences,

I guess the hot weather followed by a heavy storm may well have triggered it.
And yeah I'm keeping an eye out now

Great to find this in the garden m8

Paul.

Cheers Paul, Right place right time for a change

Nice when you are lucky enough to get a squeaky clean new insect. Well done Matey.

Cheers Alby

Get out early if you are soon enough you may see one crawl out. I have once but have seen a few it is fascinating to watch.
Nice shot.
Have searched for other exuvia to see if you missed some.

Cheers Alf I've Yet to see one emerge,
But I guess I only missed this one by a couple of minutes,
Since this one, I do check regularly for empty cases, but no more so far.

 

[RedRobin]

Southern Hawker dragonflies tend to emerge after a minimum of 2 years as underwater (highly predatory) nymphs and they also will emerge at any time of morning, taking up to 3 hours to pump up ready to fly. So make yourself comfortable and sit and wait! Some dragonfly species tend to emerge before dawn - They all vary and as individuals.

This dragonfly species (Aeshna cyanea) flight season is usually from June to September inclusive but everything is late this year.

The Southern Hawker is well known for circling you and checking you out at eye-level from only a couple of feet away < Or do they only do that to me!?. They have 360 degree vision and can fly backwards reaching speeds of over 30mph. I love them.

 

[Cobra]

The Southern Hawker is well known for circling you and checking you out at eye-level from only a couple of feet away < Or do they only do that to me!?.)

I've never had that happen, TBH I rarely see these or Damsels come to that, its mostly a quick glimpse as they fly by.
Thanks for all the background info Robin, very interesting

 

[Dale.]

Cool, I'd love dragons (or damsels) at my pond.

Is that with the M5 Chris?

 

[Cobra]

Cool, I'd love dragons (or damsels) at my pond.

Is that with the M5 Chris?

Cheers Dale
M50 + 100mm canon macro IS L lens

 

[Dale.]

Cheers Dale
M50 + 100mm canon macro IS L lens

ahhhh, the M50 you have, thought it was the M5.

Great little cameras.

 

[Cobra]

Great little cameras.

Its nice and light, ideal for macro

 

[RedRobin]

ahhhh, the M50 you have, thought it was the M5.

Great little cameras.

.... I had the same Canon EF 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro lens as Chris (I still have it but don't use it now I have the Olympus) but often on the EOS M5 when I had one. Excellent quality combo but personally I found the EOS-M5 body a bit too small < Just me. I never had a M50.

 

[Cobra]

I never had a M50.

I was beginning to find that the 7DII + Grip was getting a little heavy for hand held macro images.
I was attracted to mirrorless, but wasn't prepared to spend the amount of money at that time,
or even learn a new system ..
So at around £400 the M50 seemed like a good bet..
I haven't been disappointed yet

 

[RedRobin]

I was beginning to find that the 7DII + Grip was getting a little heavy for hand held macro images.
I was attracted to mirrorless, but wasn't prepared to spend the amount of money at that time,
or even learn a new system ..
So at around £400 the M50 seemed like a good bet..
I haven't been disappointed yet

..... Yes it can be a question of physical balance. I went as far as fitting an aftermarket right hand grip, not battery grip, to my M5. I don't know about the M50 but the M5 had the same sensor as the 7D2 (slightly adapted/updated no doubt).

But for extra macro reach I also mounted a Kenko 1.4x on my EF 100mm.

Canon design and make excellent cameras and lenses imo. I moved to Olympus partly because I wasn't prepared to spend the money on staying on the future Canon roadmap.

Your recent macro results demonstrate your current combo works really well for you.

 

[Petrochemist]

The Southern Hawker is well known for circling you and checking you out at eye-level from only a couple of feet away < Or do they only do that to me!?. They have 360 degree vision and can fly backwards reaching speeds of over 30mph. I love them.

They only do it to photographers who aren't ready for them. I've had crowds of them circling me when carrying a long lens that was somewhat slow to focus. They are obviously highly trained at teasing us as they varied distance & direction quite a bit.
Unlike many other forms of wildlife I've not had them tease em when I've been without a camera.
The local bird of prey prefer to tease me when I'm driving swooping down just in front of the car before disappearing into the trees...

Fantastic shots Cobra, I've never been lucky enough to witness them emerging.

 

[Cobra]

They only do it to photographers who aren't ready for them.

That I can believe
I feed the red kites here, no matter how long I stand at the window watching, with a camera, they never appear.
Turn my back to do something and within minutes, they have dropped in and taken the food

Fantastic shots Cobra, I've never been lucky enough to witness them emerging.

Cheers Mike, I was close to seeing it, but unfortunately no cigar this time