bright and Beautiful

After my last post about Beautiful Demoiselles, I had a message from Watermill wolves lupines saying that they had a population that frequented a woodland stream where they walk their dogs.

As soon as I had some free time and the sun was shining I was graciously granted permission and headed over there.

I really love their small piece of woodland, it is little more than a strip of wood along the stream-side that is part of a much larger area of woodland, it is teaming with nature, a really nice place to spend an hour or so just quietly soaking it all in....however I wasn't actually there to soak it all in so off I went to find my quarry.

I had been given pretty good directions to the best place to see the Demoiselles, however I hadn't even got 20 yards into the wood before I found my first one.

I kept going, a bit quicker in the step now, I found the area of the stream that I had been directed to, headed down and stood quietly in the middle of it, I soon found myself looking at around a dozen Beautiful Demoiselles, males chasing each other, then chasing females, then once even chasing off and Emperor Dragonfly; which was no small task as those are right bruisers!

Despite the fact that it was quite windy and we had had a really grey morning, by the time I was on location the sun was shining brightly and the stream was sheltered.

These dragonflies are so intent in their own lives that they don't appear to notice much change, so by standing quietly and as still as possible I was even used as a perch, as they rested after bouts of chasing.

I was able to get a variety of photos, males and females, resting and best of all in flight, it was a truly magical experience and I'd like to thank Watermill wolves for allowing me onto their site to photograph these remarkable creatures.