Dragonflies, A Bumble Bee….Oh And A Needlefish!
I spent a couple morning hours two different days in the past month, trying my luck again with the dragonflies hanging around the embankment at the end of Cambridge Creek.
Definitely a challenging subject. And definitely a tremendous number of dumped files. 🙂
Except for the Blue Dasher, I had to research each of these to ID. If I incorrectly identified any, please let me know!
Blue Dasher
Widow Skimmer
Painted Skimmer
Needham’s Skimmer
Needham’s Skimmer
Needham’s Skimmer
I couldn’t resist this bumble bee buzzing around me….
Bumble Bee
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
Common Sanddragon
While shooting the dragonflies, I saw something dart in the water and spotted a Needlefish. I had seen them before this summer but always missed any shot. This one made the photo-shoot cut, ha!
Needlefish (about a foot long)
Yellow-sided Skimmer
Black Saddlebags Skimmer
Black Saddlebags Skimmer
Black Saddlebags Skimmer
(If you’re gonna land in front of me on the sailboat mast, I’m gonna try to capture you!)
Eastern Pondhawk dining on an unfortunate butterfly
Dragonflies are definitely great practice to improve your photography skills of patience and steadiness. 🙂
Photos by Donna 
Wow Donna, these are beautiful photos! I have to say that the Blue Dasher’s little face reminds me of Mickey Mouse! Weird…
Thank you, John! Doesn’t he look like he’s smiling at you too?!! 🙂
Nice set of images Donna! They can be very challenging. Not only to photograph, but to ID also!
Thank you, Reed! Super-challenging, more than birds! 🙂
Dragonflies are always a challenge Donna, and you have done very well! I hardly use my macro lens as birds are my major subject. Love the beautiful colors and ornate webbing of the wings. Well captured my friend!
Thank you, Ashley! I meant to put in the post, I used my 70-200mm 2.8f with a 1.7x teleconverter. 🙂
Amazing photos Donna, very crisp and clear shots. The first photo is my favourite!
Thank you, Sue! I swear that Blue Dasher has a big smile! 🙂
All are excellent shots! I always photograph dragonflies if they are close to the birds, I do the same with butterflies. Thank you, Donna. 🙂
Thank you, HJ! I think we agree, anything nautre with wings is worthy of photographing! 🙂
All Fantastic, Donna… especially the bumble bee! THANKS SO MUCH! On Sun, 25 Aug 2019 00:12:27 +0000
Thank you, Carol, and you’re quite welcome!
The photo of the widow skimmer is really special and I also love the bumblebee – such an unusual angle!
Thank you, Liz! I’ve never caught one at that angle to show off those pretty cool looking bumble bee eyes! 🙂
Well seen! fantastic shots and some are in such great light. I find these creatures fascinating and am hoping to capture a blue Darner soon. The Bumblebee is a Wow! shot with the reflection in the eyes. I have a basic book on bugs by an expert but it is very simplified so only covers a few species-dare I get a more detailed book? I have never seen a widow skimmer-she is something and I swear the blue Dasher is smiling.
Thank you, Jane! I was thrilled with the bumble bee shot, I don’t recall ever getting such a close photo, showing off those cool eyes. I, myself, don’t have any insect books so I use the internet and research bugs common to Maryland. And I truly agree, that Blue Dasher is smiling! 🙂
Beautiful pictures, Donna!! I have three posts here on dragonflies, captured in my garden🙂
Thank you, Indira! World-wide dragonfly species, yay! I’ve had a lot of fun with their challenge. 🙂
Oh yes! Fantastic images, love them all. So good to get uncluttered backgrounds, not always possible.
Thank you, Brian! Down the embankment were different large rocks/boulders, I tried to take advantage of their coloring for my backgrounds. I was stoked on how the backgrounds came out! 🙂
Oh, my goodness! These are amazing captures. Love them all. 😊
Thank you very much, Irene! 🙂
Beautiful pictures Donna – and so many different varieties. Definitely a test of your skill and patience. 🙂
Thank you, Mike! They were all shot within a 20 feet of each other, a little gem of a place. I hardly moved much except to step closer or away from one. 🙂
These are gorgeous! Love the whimsical names of the dragonflies. The shallow DOF and the diffused background really add a magical effect.
Thank you! I was very pleased with the background effects, esp. with the different color boulders down the embankment. 🙂
Great catches…even the last one with the butterfly. All true reflections of nature in action! John from LasVegasPhotos sent me here to check out your blog! Glad he did!
Thank you Shelley! I have a passion for capturing wildlife’s action, esp. birds. 🙂 Thank you, John, for the shout-out! Great guy!
You’re welcome! You have a gift for it as well. Yes, John is a great guy!
Very nice photos and I was impressed with the one on the ship mast. I went to park a couple of weeks ago to photograph dragonflies, and flowers, but mainly dragonflies. I’ve been there several time in the past with good results with the dragonflies perched on reeds and cattails along the edge of the lake. Turned out all the vegetation along the waters edge had been cut down to just a few inches above the water so it was impossible to get close enough for good photos with my 105mm macro. I think next time I go anywhere for dragon flies I’ll throw my 80-400mm in the car too (actually I’ll carefully place it on the floor behind the driver’s seat).
Thank you, David. Bummer, when you don’t have the right lens. And yes, carefully, no throwing! 😉 The difficult part is lugging our equipment, I like to take two camera bodies and at least two lenses in one bag, so a bit heavy. I’m lucky if my husband is along, he’ll help with the lugging. 🙂
Marvelous shots!!
Thank you!!
I envy you your patience and steady hand. A most enjoyable selection of pictures.
Thank you, Tom. I think I’ve found another winged friend to keep me challenged, which is what I enjoy. 🙂
How nice to see so many kinds. Nicely done Donna!
I hadn’t heard of a needlefish before, they are amazing looking.
Thank you, Belinda! All but one dragonfly was within a 20 feet stretch along the embankment, I was later shocked I found so many species just in that small area. The needlefish was about a foot long. This was my first year ever seeing them, now I’m seeing them a lot. 🙂
Awesome camera work, Donna. These critters aren’t easy to capture! Loved seeing the needlefish – I wonder if they are related to seahorses? Their heads look similar.
Thank you, Eliza! I think I’ve found another challenging winged friend to photograph. 🙂 You are right, the needlefish’s head does have a similar resemblance to the seahorse, but they aren’t related. The pipefish looks much more like the seahorse and is related. I distinguished between the two species by the tail (pipefish don’t have a fin tail). And I found out needlefish have very sharp teeth, whoa!
I love your gorgeous photographs, Donna. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Isabel, and you’re welcome!
Great shots Donna, and great job identifying them! Last year I took some shots of dragonflies and damselflies, but never took it seriously to identify them🙂
Thank you Christie! They are hard to identify, I’m not so sure I have every one of them right but hoping so! 🙂
Great post Donna. The vivid complimentary colors in the Widow Skimmer image really spoke to me. And I agree with your comments on subjects like this being good practice. Butterflies and dragonflies are a critical component of the wildlife photography learning curve.
Thank you, Nick! Most definitely challenging….which I love! 🙂