Odonata Obsession

Dragon and Damselflies have long been a favorite subject, but this year I’ve gone a little crazy. In the course of a few kayaking trips, and one on foot with the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, I’ve been photographing them more than ever. The NRF field trip was led by two people with expertise in Odonata species and habits and could tell us lots of information about them and almost instantly ID anything they saw or caught. I’m not sure I’ll ever get a net myself, but I did purchase a nifty pair of binoculars that focus as close as 2 feet! I never knew such things existed, but after seeing both trip leaders use them, I think mine will come in quite handy.

Even though I usually can ID what I’ve shot after I’ve done it, sometimes it can still be difficult. Not as bad as with mushrooms, but a lot of species (especially females) look similar and without multiple views and angles, can be tough. Like the one just above, my guess was a female Dot-tailed Whiteface, but experts in the online dragonfly community set me straight – it’s a male Four-spotted Skimmer. That would have been more obvious from the top, but this is all I had for a photograph. You’ll see a female Dot-tailed Whiteface in a minute, but in the mean time a couple of boys –

They were really plentiful when I was out that day, and as a rule they are pretty social and gregarious, congregating in large numbers. And of course trying to mate as these next couples are doing. This first one is an amazing shot that I can’t believe I actually got. It has the male face on to us, but behind him in his claspers is the female who was laying eggs. They fly from place to place doing this and it really is kind of astonishing to watch. How they coordinate their wings is a mystery, but since so many species do it, it must be hard-wired. Just check out that reflection! The angle I had eliminated the sky and I think I had the polarizer dialed in just right. You don’t see this every day!

And here’s another pair in the mating pose. Each species of dragonfly (and damselfly) has claspers especially adapted to fit the female’s head. When she accepts him as mate, he grasps her and she works her abdomen around to his to accept/extract sperm packets to fertilize her eggs. From what I’ve seen they don’t fly far or often in this configuration, but get the job done quickly and move on to ovipositing. Here you can see the way they are attached to each other and a heavy load of water mites on the female. Another killer reflection!

From this view you can see how similar she looks to the male Four-spotted Skimmer. No wonder I was confused!

Another species and one that’s especially beautiful –

These photos were done by just sitting and waiting for them to pose. Most are territorial and creatures of habit, landing on the same twigs or branches over and over again as they patrol for intruders. Even if you aren’t in a kayak or canoe, if you notice dragon or damselflies near you, watch them for a while and see where each lands. Then position yourself for a good portrait and wait.

Another strategy is to go out early mornings when it’s relatively cool. Many Odonata species roost overnight in trees and have to wait for the sun to warm up enough to fly. When they get started they are often slow and need to land for longer periods until their flight muscles are warm and ready to go.

Once they are up and at ’em, one of the only times they will sit still is when they’ve caught a meal. I got lucky with this Bluet species when I saw it had a small fly.

Beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to dragonflies and so when I get a reasonable angle on one with a good background, I make it work. This species is known for its beautiful wings with their twelve spots, but I couldn’t get an angle for that. So it’s a side view which I think is interesting just because it’s not what you usually see with this species. If the background had been really messy and full of bright spots, I probably wouldn’t have bothered, but when you get this kind of smooth simplicity, you go for it.

If an individual is cooperative and stays still, move around until you eliminate all or most of the distracting elements around it. This Rusty Snaketail had been caught and held for quite a while as we all got a nice look at it. Since I’d never seen one before, I was pretty jazzed. That color combination is so striking. At first I got a few documentary shots that don’t work particularly well artistically, but he was so traumatized (probably not, but needed to warm up) that he stayed still for quite a while on this branch. I was able to move back and forth and up and down to get rid of a lot of the specular highlights on the water behind him. I also did my best to line up his whole body with the focal plane in the camera. With such narrow depths of field in this kind of photography, you need to do everything you can to maximize what will be in focus. Getting the wings and the body sharp without stacking isn’t going to happen, but OOF wings are no big deal; a blurry body is. When all else fails, get the eyes sharp!

Another atypical angle, but a super sweet background –

The light kept changing due to passing clouds and of all the shots I have of that Chalk-fronted Corporal, this one worked the best; it’s not full sun, nor is it full shade, but somewhere in between. A polarizer can help by reducing reflections and glare on the insect’s hard and shiny eyes and skin. For this shot of two damselflies mating, it definitely helped reduce the brightness of the sedges they were in and saturated the colors like crazy –

Keeping my camera set to Single-autofocus which lets me use Focus peaking definitely helped me identify what was in focus and what wasn’t. Because the kayak moves ever so slightly I took several shots hoping I had one that would be usable and I did. Aren’t they great?

While shooting, single males kept buzzing them hoping to dislodge the male so he could claim the female for himself. This happens all the time in Odonata species and is the primary reason he keeps her in his claspers while she lays eggs. In species that don’t remain connected, he will often follow and hover as she lays her eggs, warding off and chasing any stray males that come near. Not only will a successful rival mate with the female, he will remove previously fertilized eggs if he can. Here’s a pair of Common Green Darners flying from place to place as she lays eggs in the floating plants.

And here’s a shot of an intruder male trying to break up another couple of Common Green Darners –

The attacker is on the left, the mated pair on the right. It happened in a split second and the pair successfully fought off the intruder. I noticed them alight on the plants and got the camera on them and !BOOM! – action, fight, splash, flutter – done. There are no photos of the couple alone it was so quick and sudden. Miracle I had the right focus and shutter speed to freeze anything, but I really like how it turned out. It’s the only time I’ve ever managed a shot of this behavior since it is so unpredictable and over in the blink of an eye.

Dragonflies lead pretty violent lives (most are cannibals, too) which you’d never realize when you catch them at their more serene moments. They are most still and vulnerable when they emerge from the nymph state and need to dry out and harden before launching into their adult lives. I paddled into a little pocket on the side of a lake because it was out of the wind and had some lovely flowers and such. Even if I’d not noticed a couple of dragonflies drying out, it would have been worth the stop. Only one was in a position where I could get a decent photo which I eventually did by repositioning the kayak and waiting for the breeze to shift the canopy so the light was decent –

I had no idea what species it was when I took it, but thought it might be a Fawn Darner judging by the yellow spots on the thorax. Further investigation put it in the Emerald group of dragonflies and that sharp spike of an ovipositor differentiated her from a Ski-tipped Emerald. Those girls have similar ovipositors, but they are much more blunt and rounded. Williamson’s use them to drill into mud to deposit eggs. They are usually found in deep woods and are seldom seen at all. Such a privilege to see one so beautiful and pristine and about to go on her adult journey.

At first glance you might think this is another Dot-tailed Whiteface, but since I can’t see that bright yellow dot on his butt, I think this is a Belted Whiteface. They are remarkably similar. This one kept returning to this old seed head and I rather like the 3/4 view. Some clouds helped even out the light to keep that white face from clipping. There is much more environment on display here, but I don’t mind the criss-crossing pattern as it makes nice frame.

Another peering down at me from the ferns –

And last, a more documentary shot of a specimen netted while on the NRF field trip. After being released it had to recuperate and regroup and as tiny as it is (2cm or so) I got a decent shot that isn’t great, but shows I saw the little guy.

With so many other folks trying to get a look at the critters, it was a lot more difficult to get good photos, but that wasn’t why I was there, so it’s ok. There are plenty of other times I did get more than documentary images of these flying wonders.