Discoveries at Bassa d'Oles, Spain
16 July 2014
When visiting Bassa d'Oles with our dear friends Noushka and Patrick we were in the company of two dragonfly experts and realized how woefully inadequate is our knowledge of these fascinating creatures. They are enchanting and we always pay attention to them, and even though our knowledge is not great, we at least have a little greater knowledge of the species we find locally.
I do not have a guide for the dragonflies of Europe so all but one of the pictures below will go unidentified. Please help with identification and I will add the title to each picture.
The credit for these pictures by the way should go to my wife, Miriam. It was her patience that garnered these results.
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| Yellow-winged Darter Sympetrum flaveolum |
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| Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum |
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| Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata |
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| Common Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus |
Wow, those are beautiful pictures.
ReplyDeleteWonderful color and sharpness, 5 is my favorite.
Greetings Tinie
Super dragon and damsel images, Miriam. I'm sure Noushka will put me right if I get it wrong, but I believe No.2 is a mating pair of Common Blue Damselfly ( Enallagma cyathigerum) (upper male, lower female), and the subsequent dragonflies are all Four-spotted Chasers (Libellula quadrimaculata). What I'm really not sure about is the sex of the chasers. The divergent rear appendages of them all suggest immature male to me, but the overall appearance looks more like the female shown in my guide.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, if you want a comprehensive, but easily understandable, guide, I recommend "Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe" by Klaas-Douwe B Dijkstra. I get the impression that it is to dragonflies what the Collins guide is to birds.
My best wishes to you both - keep these super report coming!
Thanks, Richard, I will add the names accordingly. Thanks also for the name of the reference book. I'll have to get a copy.
DeleteGrand captures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for you kind words on my last post. MS is often a misunderstood disease.
Beautiful pictures of the dragonflies, David.
ReplyDeleteAll perfectly photographed.
So lovely insects and pictures, one can not get tired of studying them.
ReplyDeleteGood Tuesday.
a super series; congrats to you both; it must've been very exciting achieving these photos Miriam
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly some beautiful insects in the world, and thanks for sharing these.
ReplyDeleteLovely! Its not easy to Catch them....
ReplyDeletePiękne fotki i ważka:) Pozdrawiam i zapraszam do mnie:)
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures of dragonflies! We love these insects...
ReplyDeleteRegards :-)
Ohhhhhhhhhh .... what a beautiful photos
ReplyDeleteTruly beautiful David. These are simply gems of nature.
A really big compliment !!!!
Well I can see Richard has given you all the right answers while I was away!!
ReplyDeleteThe Yellow darter is a juvenile male, he will turn orange-red when mature....
Magnificent photos, congratulations to you........ and Miriam!! :)