Dragonfly photography from the Summer of 2011

Some of my favourite ode pictures from this summer, starting off with my favourite favourite:

Female Sedge Darner. I thought this gal looked spectacular in her own right, and was thrilled to get a nice shot. 

Male Sedge  Darner (not nearly as nice, in all categories)

male Zigzag Darner

male Subarctic Darner (another favourite image) the female is below (and not quite as good) 

female Lake Darner

Common Green Darner

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the above were from James Bay, the below are from Silent Lake PP:

Crimson-ringed? Whiteface

Calico Pennant

Slaty Skimmer (pretty fond of this one too)

Belted? Whiteface

And a few from elsewhere in Ontario:

Powdered Dancer

Halloween Pennant (and this one) 

Halloween Pennant part deux

I think I have most of these on their species pages now : 

http://www.peregrineprints.com/ind__odes.htm

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Dragon dragonflies

Jennifer and I spent 4 spectacular days camping at Silent Lake Provincial Park this past Saturday-Tuesday. Hiking, Swimming, Canoeing, Cooking over the fire. Everything you'd expect! And it was an exceptional amount of fun. We got in at a walk-in campsite (a huge 20 second walk from the parking lot) and after day 1 had the entire area to ourselves. It couldn't have worked out any better!


However! I will do my best to stick to the natural history part of the trip (this is a natural history/photography blog after all).........

My "Natural History" highlight of the adventure was my 118th odonata species for the province, Horned Clubtail:

Having the chance to poke around after some dragonflies was a great change of pace from the constant bird-work  I have been doing in the summer months the past 3+ years... Most of my dragonfly experience came from my time working in Algonquin Park (last years of highschool), and pretty much most of what I knew came from the opportunity to follow Mike Burrell around while I was there (among a few others).  But that was quite a while ago!

The new camera was fun to try documenting pretty much everything I saw/captured. The other dragonfly highlight was 4 different Cyrano Darners (1 photographed in the hand below):

This large and spectacular dragon is a must-see for anyone interested in odes. The ones I've seen seem to be patrolling just offshore (this one was caught from a canoe) on outer edge of any marshy parts to large lakes in this area. You can see a bit of the habitat to the far right of the picture.


My photography highlight (wildlife highlight that is) was a pair of cooperative Mink Frogs while Jennifer and I canoed around the lake:

Looks like I'm gonna have to make a Mink Frog Page sometime.....

Jennifer, if you read this, it was a great adventure! And I can't wait to go there again with you. 

Takin'm where they land (pics for yesterdays post)

Some of these photos (Canada, Blackpoll) I like a LOT more than others (Redstarts).. All fresh from this past spring at Pelee/Pelee Island.

(I really like this one too)

 Most of these probably wouldn't be too popular on the forums, but it's all about what you like! I learned HOW to get the photos I wanted there... Just keep an open mind and learn!

Misc Spring Migration Photos

I've run out of ideas on writing about spring photos. The visitor counter on my website tells me you're as bored with these as I am!

Birding reports etc. should return eventually! But for now, here's an odd collection of photos I took this spring, that haven't yet been presented on the blog (as I stall for material) -- I actually have about 10 blog posts pre-written and ready to be released, 1 day at a time.... Maybe this one will give some extra attention to the book review from yesterday!?

Check out the blue in the mouth

A YB Fly  I didn't have ready for the initial fly post. 

A sitta for you

I'm slowly gaining a respectable collection of the dullest spring female warblers EVER

With a small insect goin for a ride!

A strange and random collection to say the least. The b-sides of Spring-2011

PROW!

More new spring photos. One beautiful thing about birding Pelee Island this spring was the steady song of a Prothonotary Warbler (or two) coming from the wet woods at Fish Point. We enjoyed looking just about every day, but only once did I have my camera out and ready for some photos:

This stunning male had set up shop, and we decided to walk down for a visit. When we arrived, he was on the "wrong" side of the road from his box. It wasn't hard to plan my next move, and I set up my tripod on the road as he slowly worked closer to me. Eventually he stopped at the edge of the road, allowed half a dozen photos, before taking flight and continuing to feed on the "right" side of the road!

As he took flight, I managed a lucky shot (that I was actually really pleased with):

PROW in flight! I found something pleasing about the flight feathers in this image. I usually feel like most people don't like these "odd" shots as much as I do... What do you think, is it good? 

 They have to be one of the very most spectacular warblers we get to see!

It was already pretty late, so we watched him feed for a while longer.... Getting dark, my Dad and I were really stunned to see him (apparently) find a place to sleep for the night ?? 

He moved up against the trunk here, stopped moving all together and started closing his eyes! Is this how warblers sleep at night? We watched for a good 20 minutes before we were ready to leave ourselves, and he didn't budge (even when large vehicles drove past 25 feet away!  Not something you get to see everyday. 

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_PROW.htm

photographing water

Back in early May, I stopped to check Blenheim Sewage Lagoons... The conditions made me consider breaking out the camera gear, and I managed to take a few hundred photos of the pond water there. 

Very rarely, if I was lucky, I could get an out-of-focus Swallow (like this Tree Swallow) inside the frame

And 800 photos later, I had a few flight shots:

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_TRES.htm


And even one of these things! (Barn Swallow, coming to a "Threatened-Listing" near you soon!)

http://peregrineprints.com/zz_BARS.htm

Cool and cloudy doesn't usually mean flight shots, but the high-ISO capabilities of my camera made these shots possible.