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Posts Tagged ‘survivor’

Gray Petaltail survivor

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 26, 2019| 5 Comments »

Survival in the wild is challenging even when you are able-bodied. The difficulties are multiplied when you have a major deformity, like this Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) that I spotted on Friday at Occoquan Regional Park.

I not sure what caused the sharp bend in the abdominal region of this dragonfly, but I observed that it was able to fly and to perch. Perhaps it is able to capture prey, but mating seems out of the question. I admire that the fact that it appears to be fighting for its survival.

For the sake of contrast, I am including a photo of another Gray Petaltail dragonfly that I observed the same day at the park.

Gray Petaltail

Gray Petaltail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Late-season survivor

Posted in Art, Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2017| 3 Comments »

As we move inexorably deeper into autumn, more and more flowers and leaves are fading and falling. Many of the familiar dragonflies of the summer also are disappearing. I was heartened yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot this Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa), a survivor that is tattered and torn, but is still flying in October.

I mentioned in a recent blog posting that I am experimenting with carrying two cameras with me when I go out shooting. The first photo was shot with my Canon SX50, a super-zoom camera and the second was taken with my Canon 50D DSLR. The depth of field is so shallow with the DSLR, normally shooting close to the 600mm end of my zoom lens, that it seems more ideal for shots like the second image where the subject is flatter. The SX50 gives me more depth of field and I love the way that it allowed me to capture the background as circles of color.

Fine-lined Emerald

Fine-lined Emerald

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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