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A really interesting visitor to the back garden yesterday. I am unsure whether this is a female Vagrant Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum), which is quite a rare migratory species or a female Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). She lacks many of the markings of the Common Darter (no red spots at wing attachments on thorax, nor any other thin red markings along top of abdomen, but does have relatively little marking on thorax and has brown wing spots, though Common Darter wing spot colours vary). At around 39mm long (fortuitous that she alighted on the plastic cap on the end of the washing line spar, which I could measure afterwards to provide scale), she could be either species. Unfortunately, I failed to get a head-on shot of her, with only some partial 3/4 views of the 'face', but there is a suggestion that she has a black line running along the side of her compound eye, where it meets her 'face', which would be a more certain identification clue. She does have a prominent scale on underside of 9th segment, clearly identifying her as a female (see other post of her uploaded today). Any identification help from any entomology experts gratefully received. Logic suggests she is a Common Darter, with Vagrant Darters being somewhat rare, but I couldn't perfectly reconcile her appearance with that of other photos of female Common Darters.
Press L.
Another shot of a female black darter, this time in a bit more space. This is another image from the now infamous midge massacre - I was the victim.
slanghalsvoel/darter/anhinga melanogaster
You have to scratch your own back if nobody else does it.....
A male black darter - a giant one of these would make an excellent pet methinks, or perhaps a draft excluder for the bottom of a door. Time to sell the cats...
black darter Sympetrum danae
reversed lens 18-55 @ 35mm
1/125
f4
iso 400
stacked
Changed him quite a bit from 616.. He's one of many members that are apart of The Wake alongside Raptor.
"We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics."
~Bill Vaughan
You may read more about this male Red-veined Darter @ wiki.
Thank you very much for all your wonderful comments, favs and invites! That is very much appreciated! I wish you all a wonderful week!
my website and my smugmug.
Similar to an earlier upload of mine but this time with a better view of the surroundings. The Oriental Darter is like all other Anhingas, a Cormorant-like species that has a very long neck. The structure of the neck is as in other species of darter with strongly developed muscles about a kink in the neck at the 8th and 9th vertebrae that allows it to be flexed and darted forward with rapid force to stab fish underwater. The sharp bill has inward pointing serrations that hold impaled fish. After diving for fish they often choose a pole or branch on which to perch with spread out wings to help dry the feathers as seen in this shot.
I stopped at Lago d'Averno and photographed this Violet Darter in the heat of the day. I know the habits and quirks of this species, so it's not too difficult to get right on top of them (especially when they are actively hunting).
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to roughly 2.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT (E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
Taken at Titchwell Marsh Norfolk RSPB, spent an hour determined to get a head on shot of the dragonfly. This was the best of many shots I took.
Anhinga rufa
The African Darters are often called "snake-birds" because of their long thin neck, which gives a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged. The males have black and dark-brown plumage, an erectile crest on the nape and a larger bill than the female. The females have much paler plumage especially on the neck and underparts. The darters have completely webbed feet and their legs are short and set far back on the body. Their plumage is somewhat permeable, like that of cormorants, and they spread their wings to dry after diving.
Taken on the Sark-Conde wine farm
Thank you very much for the visits, faves and comments. Cheers. Flickr map is out of date. See www.google.com/maps/search/barcaldine+ski+park/@-23.55638... for water park.
Australasian Darter
Anhinga novaehollandiae
Anhingidae
Description: The Darter is a large, slim water bird with a long snake-like neck, sharp pointed bill, and long, rounded tail. Male birds are dark brownish black with glossy black upperwings, streaked and spotted white, silver-grey and brown. The strongly kinked neck has a white or pale brown stripe from the bill to where the neck kinks and the breast is chestnut brown. Females and immatures are grey-brown above, pale grey to white below, with a white neck stripe that is less distinct in young birds. The Darter is often seen swimming with only the snake-like neck visible above the water, or drying its wings while perched on a tree or stump over water. While its gait is clumsy on land, it can soar gracefully to great heights on thermals, gliding from updraft to updraft. It has a cross-shaped silhouette when flying.
Distribution: In Australia, the Darter is found from Adelaide, South Australia, to Tennant Creek, Northern Territory and then to Broome, Western Australia. it is also found in south-western Australia, from Perth to Esperance. Worldwide, it has been thought of as one of two mainAnhinga species (the other, A. anhinga, is found in North America), found in the southern half of Africa, Madagascar, Iraq, Pakistan, India, south-east Asia, Indonesia and New Guinea. However, A. melanogaster is now considered to be further divided into three species, with rufa being found in Africa, melanogaster in south Asia and novaehollandiae in New Guinea and Australia (the Australasian Darter).
Habitat: The Darter is found in wetlands and sheltered coastal waters, mainly in the Tropics and Subtropics. It prefers smooth, open waters, for feeding, with tree trunks, branches, stumps or posts fringing the water, for resting and drying its wings. Most often seen inland, around permanent and temporary water bodies at least half a metre deep, but may be seen in calm seas near shore, fishing. The Darter is not affected by salinity or murky waters, but does require waters with sparse vegetation that allow it to swim and dive easily. It builds its nests in trees standing in water, and will move to deeper waters if the waters begin to dry up.
Feeding: The Darter catches fish with its sharp bill partly open while diving in water deeper than 60 cm. The fish is pierced from underneath, flicked onto the water's surface and then swallowed head first. Smaller items are eaten underwater and large items may be carried to a convenient perch and then swallowed. Insects and other aquatic animals, including tortoises, may also be eaten, as well as some vegetable matter. In hot weather, adult birds may pour water from their bills into the gullets of their young chicks when they are still in the nest.
Breeding: The Darter is usually a solitary bird, forming pairs only while breeding. Breeding is erratic, happening whenever water levels and food supplies are suitable, but most often occurs in spring and summer. Nests are usually solitary, but Darters may nest within loose colonies with other water birds that nest in trees, such as cormorants, spoonbills and ibis. The male decorates a nest-site with green leafy twigs and displays to attract a mate, with elaborate wing-waving and twig-grasping movements. The male carries most of the nest material to the nest-site, which is normally in the fork of a tree standing in water, usually about 3.5 m above the water's surface. Both sexes complete the nest, incubate the eggs and raise the young. Chicks are kept warm by brooding continously (or cooled down by shading with spread wings) for up to a week after hatching and both adults stay in the nest with the chicks overnight. In hot weather, the adults will even shake water over the chicks after a swim. Chicks can swim after about four weeks in the nest and start to fly at about 50 days.
(Source: www.birdlife.org.au)
© Chris Burns 2023
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‘The Dart Explorer’, a 300 seat luxury catamaran operated by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company, at rest with beautiful Dartmouth in the background. She was originally launched in 1991 as the Devonaire Belle, and was renamed in 2001.
I only saw a single darter on the edge of the airport perimeter fence not quite the quantities I have come to know back in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
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This male Common Darter Dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum) was resting on the bird bath, patiently waiting while I fiddled with the camera. Later he got bored and decided to sit on my head. When I took this shot I didn't realise that the yellow stripes on the legs were the key to determine the species. There have been lots of these insects around this summer, though this is the first time one has settled for long enough for me to take a photo of it.
Had a couple of hours at a local pond yesterday and was blessed with some lovely light, enabling me to catch these two Common Darters ovipositing.
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