Nature photography, like nature itself, can be broken down into different seasons. The time and length of each season as well as what is available to photograph depends on your location. The weather and other factors can also influence these seasons some what. Here where I live the spring and fall are great times for birding, because of migration. The winter is good to get those winter specialty birds that come down from Canada. Summer is not that great for birding, once all the chicks have fledged. Fortunately for me summer is a good time to photograph dragonflies, butterflies and other insects.
My favorite family of dragonflies to photograph are the
clubtails. You can always tell if a dragon is a
clubtail right away because they are the only dragons that eyes do not touch. During this time of year I spend quite a bit of time at different locations on the St.
Croix River, such as St
Croix State Park, Wild River State Park and Carpenter Nature Center. Many
clubtails are river dragonflies and the St
Croix is very good habitat. The dragons in the photos above are splendid
clubtails. You can tail by the side spots on sections 8 and 9 and the lack of any top spots on sections 8 through 10, the clubbed sections, of the abdomen. With their large size and strong flight they often prey on other large dragonflies, such as skimmers and other
clubtails. These splendid dragons where photographed at Wild River State Park.
Nature photography, like nature itself, can be broken down into different seasons. The time and length of each season as well as what is available to photograph depends on your location. The weather and other factors can also influence these seasons some what. Here where I live the spring and fall are great times for birding, because of migration. The winter is good to get those winter specialty birds that come down from Canada. Summer is not that great for birding, once all the chicks have fledged. Fortunately for me summer is a good time to photograph dragonflies, butterflies and other insects.
My favorite family of dragonflies to photograph are the clubtails. You can always tell if a dragon is a clubtail right away because they are the only dragons that eyes do not touch. During this time of year I spend quite a bit of time at different locations on the St. Croix River, such as St Croix State Park, Wild River State Park and Carpenter Nature Center. Many clubtails are river dragonflies and the St Croix is very good habitat. The dragons in the photos above are splendid clubtails. You can tail by the side spots on sections 8 and 9 and the lack of any top spots on sections 8 through 10, the clubbed sections, of the abdomen. With their large size and strong flight they often prey on other large dragonflies, such as skimmers and other clubtails. These splendid dragons where photographed at Wild River State Park.
