It has been really warm and sunny here for the last few days. The heat of the sun has dried up the garden so that the soil now has wide cracks in places, and (how amazing is this?) some of the plants need watering. It makes such a nice change not to have to wear wellies to do gardening.
Colin was out yesterday with his macro lens, having discovered a Large Red Damselfly in the flowerbed. He got some superb shots of it eating a gnat. Look at its eyeball! Striped brown and green – incredible.
Images copyright © Colin Woolf
We went for a walk earlier this morning, and the ash trees seemed alive with whitethroats in full song. The butterflies aren’t as numerous this year, though we did find a couple of orange tips and some green-veined whites on the clumps of lady’s smock. There was still dew on the grass, and the air was full of the scent of blossom.
Fantastic close-ups, I had no idea they had stripy eyes! That’s five days of this hot weather so far, I’ve been counting. I thought it might be a bit cooler today but it was another scorcher, it’s like being in Spain or somewhere.
Thank you! Colin was pleased with them. It’s incredible weather isn’t it… I tried to do some gardening today but had to come inside because it was too hot. That’s quite bad isn’t it?!
Summer seems to be with you in its fullness. We await a southerly change with the chance of “small hail”….??!?
Do you get large dragon-flies too? This damsel fly is very beautiful. Cameras can tell us much of the detail we would otherwise miss. Thank you Colin.
Small hail!?!! Watch out for the big hail, then! We see dragonflies occasionally – not as often as we used to in Wales. Thank you for your comment – I’ll pass it on to Colin!
Great shot – looking forward to their return when Spring comes down under. Winter nearly – cold, wet and miserable a lot of the time and few insects to capture with my lens. All the best…
Thank you! Hope you get some good clear days soon!
Those are terrific macro shots! I haven’t seen any damsels or dragons here yet.
Thank you! He must have been one of the first hatched, and in pristine condition.
Great photography, Jo! Such interesting creatures!
Thank you! Colin takes credit for the photos. He is a good photographer!
I don’t think I’ve seen a striped brown and green eyeball, but I find damselfly and dragonfly eyeballs fascinating, whatever their colors and patterns. I wonder if anyone has ever dressed up as one of these insects for Halloween.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
That’s an interesting thought! A Hallowe’en costume based on this would be scary! I know little about damselflies and dragonflies but they are extremely beautiful. Thanks for your comment!
I can’t say I know much about them either, but there are lots of them in central Texas, and I almost never go out for any length of time without seeing one. Here’s a picture of a pretty one I photographed a year ago, in the first month of my blog:
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/pennant-dragonfly/