Black Darter.

Flying relatively late in the season I always look forward to finding our smallest resident Sympetrum, the Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) also known as the Black Meadowhawk to my North American friends.

During a very recent stroll along the boardwalk at Thursley Common I initially saw several males erratically flying and then disappearing into the vegetation. Eventually I spotted this immature female hiding amoungst the grasses but she was being buffeted by the stiff breeze so capturing a well focused image was a challenge.

The territorial males briefly use the same perch in-between their forays so with a bit of patience I eventually grabbed a few images.

The blackest species of this genus and the only one in which mature males do not become reddish but display an extreme colour change from their distinctive contrasting yellow-with-black to wholly black. 

These last three shots were taken last August and serve to illustrate this colour change.

Black Darter.

A week after my first encounter with Black Darters on Thursley Common I returned to stake out a likely location next to the boardwalk.

It didn't take long before I was rewarded with a fairly close encounter as a male (see below) joined me for a brief rest on the boardwalk.

Several other males were also using the boards to rest and soak up the sunshine.

As the temperature rose a little there was plenty of activity over the oily acidic water but I found it impossible to capture either a singleton or a conjoined pair in flight. Locating a female (see below) took a little time as they tend to hide out of sight amongst the vegetation until disturbed by a territorial male.

As the males age the abdomen darkens and the yellow markings all but disappear.

Black Darter.

A male Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) photographed at Thursley Common earlier this week using the 70-300 lens plus 1.4x converter. [ISO 800: f8: 1/250 @ 420mm]. There will be more images of this and other Odonata from this visit on my main blog very soon. FAB.

The Obelisk Position.

A male Black Darter (Sympetrum danae) regulating its temperature by pointing its abdomen towards the sun in 'the obelisk position'. I will feature my session with this delightful little dragon on my main blog in the near future.  FAB.

Shot 'handheld' with 450D plus 70-300mm lens. [ISO 200; 1/320; f7.1 @ 200mm]

Linking to Camera Critters and Saturday's Critters.

Sympetrum danae.

This is a female Black Darter (Sympetrum danae). Image taken at Thursley Common and you can see more images on my main blog.  FAB.