I had actually seen a pair of damselflies a week or so ago but couldn’t get any usable images.
I saw two of these at the edge of a small pond that was mostly in the shade except for a few blades of a reed where one stopped to eat his prey.
I don’t know the ID, they were quite small, maybe an inch or inch and a half ( 2.5 – 4 cm).
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
February 23, 2023
Yesterday I wandered by the spot where I witnessed Mating Damselflies, On Iris last April. The previous two nights had been below freezing so I was a bit surprised that there were a dozen or so tiny damselflies zipping around the edge of the pond.
It was breezy and my angle wasn’t great but I did capture this mating pair.
And this single, resting on a leaf.
Unknown species, small — maybe 1 1/2 inches long (3 to 4 cm)
Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
March 14, 2022
I returned to the Iris patch where I spotted the mating damselflies with my new Canon 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM EF-Mount Lens.
A few Blue-tailed Damselflies used the broad leaves of the Iris plants as perches.
This fellow also used it as a lunch spot.
April 13, 2021
Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
Canon 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
I’ve developed a few more images from April 5, the amazing Damselfly dance.
I know tall images don’t always display well in Word Press, but I did like this with the iris in the background.
I did sit on the ground a couple of times, but concern about ants and alligators kept me from lingering with the low view.
Mating Damselflies, On Iris Part 1
Before I could get a bloom of one of these iris in focus I recognized movement over the water as being dragonfly-like. Knowing the flowers would wait I turned my attention to what turned out to be damselflies.
At least a dozen pairs of mating Damselflies in several colors lit in the iris patch. They were quite small; I may have over sharpened these images. I have more and will try something different.
I recently spotted this Damselfly while walking a dike along the Ashley River and it stayed still once it found a perch, long enough for me to try manual focusing.
I’m also trying out Topaz Lab’s Sharpen AI software and am pretty amazed with the additional detail it pulled out around the damselfly’s head and along the wings, without looking overcooked.
