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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

UK dragonflies and damselflies, 2013 (1 Viewer)

Lesser emperor reported from Lower Moor Farm in the Cotswold Water Park yesterday. Location given as Mallard Lake which is the large one at the southern end of the group of lakes there. No photos, but seen by the county recorder. Details on BDS sightings page.
 
Willow Emerald Damselflies out at Marshside, near Reculver (per Marc Heath on UKDragonflies). Also Southern Emerald Damselfly seen again at Cliffe yesterday (per UKDragonflies).
 
2 brilliant emeralds at Escher Common, on Wednesday; 2 at Thursley Moat, yesterday; and 1 on at Basingstoke Canal today. I completely failed to get a photo though!
 
I made a visit to Cliffe Marshes RSPB reserve today and thankfully found 1 male SOUTHERN EMERALD DAMSELFLY and c30 SCARCE EMERALD DAMSELFLY. A couple of shots below and more on my Blog: www.marcheath.blogspot.com

Marc
 

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Alan

I am currently using a Canon 50d with a Canon f4 300mm lens with a Canon ef25mm extension tube. Seems to work for me.

Marc
 
Soton Common Boating Lake

pdwinter said:
At least 9 Small Red-eyed Damselflies out on the rapidly increasing vegetation on the Boating Lake. Two RVDs were showing well on dried grass stems around the edge as I walked by camera-less.
Click to expand...

Still three male Red-veined darters at lunchtime today (27/7) and Small Red-eyed now up to 30.
 
Paul

I can get down to just below 1metre with this set up. Close enough to get a nice image and far enough away not to scare the target away.

Marc
 
lewis20126 said:
Great shots Marc, what lens are you using? - I think I need to get a good Macro for the damselflys.

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

I have a Sigma 150 mm macro, it's worth considering although use it heavily when still in the exchange time of the warranty. I didn't and had to wait ages for them to fix a problem with it.
 
lewis20126 said:
Great shots Marc, what lens are you using? - I think I need to get a good Macro for the damselflys.

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

I get reasonable results with the 'Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro DG' on the 7D. £150 or less (I appreciate cost is not an issue!) and lightweight. Nearly everything on my blog for July is using that lens.

The pics on Paul Ritchie's blog are also mostly taken with that Sigma and much better than mine.

Alternatively, Paul Norris uses extension tubes with the 100-400mm and gets good snaps.
 
pdwinter said:
I get reasonable results with the 'Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro DG' on the 7D. £150 or less (I appreciate cost is not an issue!) and lightweight. Nearly everything on my blog for July is using that lens.

The pics on Paul Ritchie's blog are also mostly taken with that Sigma and much better than mine.

Alternatively, Paul Norris uses extension tubes with the 100-400mm and gets good snaps.
Click to expand...

Paul

Thanks - I suspect my bank manager thinks cost is an issue! I've got a fairly sharp 100-400 for birds (& big insects!) so may give the extension tubes a go with that before I look at the 300mm or a Sigma. Does the auto-focus still work for him or is it only manual with the rings?

cheers, alan
 
Steve Babbs said:
I have a Sigma 150 mm macro, it's worth considering although use it heavily when still in the exchange time of the warranty. I didn't and had to wait ages for them to fix a problem with it.
Click to expand...

Cheers Steve; its good to know what everyone is using. I've got a very old Sigma Macro which doesn't really cut the mustard for the damsels - at least when I'm using it!

cheers, alan
 
lewis20126 said:
Paul

Does the auto-focus still work for him or is it only manual with the rings?

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

Yes - the autofocus still works fine with the Canon extension tubes. Trouble with damsels is getting them separated from the background. Marc's willow emeralds would be easy for autofocus; I've struggled with autofocus with both the 300mm F4 and the 100mm macro with damsels against cluttered background.
 
I'm still getting the knack of the Sigma lens. This black darter was taken with it. I also use my 100 - 400 with a 20 mm extension tube; so that's well worth a try before you splash out Alan. Not sure my results have been as good as Marc's though.
 

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I think the Sigmas 70 - 300 APO is a superb bargain, but I've now sold mine as it was redundant once I got the 100 - 400 and a macro. The Tamron 90mm macro is good value, and superb optically, I used one for several years, but I decided I needed something with more reach as my stalking skills aren't that good!
 
I use the 100mm f2.8 canon macro (now mk ii prev mk i). Pretty much all the Odonata pics on my website (linked below) are taken with one or t'other. Second hand mark I are around 300 quid. Two have been advertised on BF for sale forum this past week. Recommended.
That said I am also considering buying a 25mm extension tube to couple with my 70-200 to bring min focusing distance down to 60cm and poss my 400 do to bring focus to 1.75 or so. Might be interesting!
 
A 2.5 hour visit this morning to Cliffe RSPB failed to find any Southern Emerald Damselflies at the usual site near the second mound. 25 Scarce Emeralds, many Common and Ruddy Darters, Blue Tailed Damselflies. 2 Migrant Hawkers, Four Spotted Chaser and Black Tailed Skimmer. It was very hot (about 32 degrees) and most species were hiding in the reeds by mid-day.
 
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