Smiley Darter Dragonfly

Tamron 90mm and 30D.

Great shots. They always look happy don't they.

Cheers Brian..They are my favourite Dragonflys as they seem to have a real character to them.

I used to think they were easy to get close too, till i got the MPE-65 and spent 4 hours today trying to get a shot of one to no avail.

Alistair.

Beautiful pics

Linda

Super clear shots.
Getting close to darters is easy provided you watch them first, and approach them slowly and carefully. The males are easiest if they are on sentry duty. This is when they are on the lookout for females, male intruders or prey. When in this mode then they adopt lookout points at or near the top of plant stems or any other vantage point where they can keep a good eye on the surroundings. It will usually be near water. Even if you disturb a darter in this mode, just draw back a foot or so, keep still and there's a fair chance it will settle back on the same perch. This is how LordV and others have pictured darters on their fingers - waggle a finger in front of the dragonfly just enough to disturb it, hold it still, just above the perch it came from and it will often come back and settle on the new improved perch, i.e. your finger. Large red damselfly males do this too. Female darters adopt similar postures but only when hunting for prey and are usually away from water to avoid getting pestered by males when not ready to mate. They won't fall for the finger trick. When at rest, darters hug the ground to pick up warmth, and in that position they can be difficult to approach depending on how close to optimum temperature they are. If a bit cold and sluggish they're easy, otherwise forget it - top down photos of dragonflies on the ground are usually awful anyway.

#2 and #3 are excellent shots. --Rick

Lovely shots- always smiling
Brian V.

Haha you must have look funny taking these