The Golden Hour – Insects in the Evening Meadow

Common Blue

The Golden Hour.  That wonderful hour just after dawn or just before dusk when the light is coming in from an angle, and tinged with the beautiful golden tones of sunrise and sunset.  This can lend a completely different perspective to photography, be it of landscapes, people, buildings or, in my case, insects in the evening meadow.

Undoubtedly the finest time of day for insect photography, the evening meadow is a perfect place to capture butterflies, dragonflies and other insects.  At this time of the year, the golden light is enhanced by the golden colour of the grass, as well as the golden flowers of birds-foot trefoil.   The insects are slightly less active than they are during the main heat of the day, which gives you a chance to catch up with them and picture them as they go in to roost.

Emerald damselfly in golden evening light

After our Open Days at the weekend, we took a walk down to the meadows as the sun was sinking over the woods.  We were really lucky to see a cloud of common blue butterflies which, unusually, were perching with their wings open as they were trying to catch the setting sun for warmth.  They were perching in the dry grass, and the combination of the iridescent blue butterflies with the golden light and reflected gold from the grass was really quite breathtaking and very special.  Even those butterflies with closed wings were outlined beautifully by the evening light.

Common blue in golden evening light

We also found more common darters perched on top of canes, waiting to pounce on their prey, as well as some amazing emerald damselflies.  These damselflies are iridescent green, but perched in the grass in that wonderful warm evening light, looked like they were made of gold.

The evening light isn’t always perfect, and you don’t always get the pictures you want, but this weekend was different.  This weekend it was truly a golden hour in the meadow, and I was happy to capture these beautiful jewels in the late summer sunshine.  Sometimes the light is just right.  This was one of those times.

Common Blue

Common darter

Common Blue

Common Blue

Female Common Blue – slightly worn specimen

Insects on display

Common Blue

Common Blue

Common Blue

This weekend, the insects have been out again in great numbers.  Interestingly, both the butterflies and the dragonflies have taken to perching high up in the grass, or on available posts, canes, sticks and tables and seem to be on display.  Common blue butterflies are often difficult to photograph because they sit so low in the grass, or on low plants such as birdsfoot trefoil, and by the time you have got down there to get a decent view they have long-since flown away (at least if your knees are as bad as mine).

But this weekend they have been shining like lovely little jewels at the top of the stems of grass.  Choosing a sheltered part of the meadow, but with plenty of scope for their pheromones to blow downwind to attract the females, the males have been sitting, rubbing their wings, at the convenient (for photographers) height of about 2-3 feet.  Getting decent shots has not been terribly easy because of the breezy conditions, but there were just a few occasions when the light was perfect, and I managed to capture some more of these little jewel-like creatures.

We have also had a great display by the common darters, usually males but a few females.  These dragonflies like to perch at the top of something, and they are making full use of the bamboo canes we put into the ground to support self-seeded oak and birch trees around the margins of Betty’s Wood.  Not the most picturesque background, but for the most part they are quiet, using their wings like a veil, sitting and waiting, each claiming the territory around their own perch.

Common Darter

Common Darter

Common Darter

Finally, a few sightings of the emerald damselfly, which seemed to be totally missing last year, but are present in numbers again this year.  We also spotted some new-generation brimstones feeding around our ponds on the purple loosestrife.  We hope the numbers will swell in future thanks to the alder buckthorn we have planted for their caterpillars.  The spectacular small copper butterfly has also made an appearance, feeding on the thistles around the field margin.  These are such beautiful little butterflies, but also very fast-moving, however I managed to get a few snaps of one.

Small Copper

Brimstone

Emerald Damselfly

This year seems to have been brilliant for butterflies and dragonflies, and they are certainly on display at the moment.  They needed a good year after the last two have been so difficult for them.

Butterflies and Dragonflies

Four-spotted chaser

Female emperor dragonfly ovipositing

Four-spotted chaser

Small tortoiseshell

Large skipper

Ringlet on cleavers

Meadow brown looks a bit drunk!

This prolonged spell of warm and dry weather has really spurred the butterflies and dragonflies into action, and they are making up for lost time due to the very prolonged winter and late Spring.  Our meadows are full of brown butterflies – we have literally hundreds of ringlets and meadow browns on the wing at the moment, along with some small tortoiseshell, small heath, common blue, brown argus, small skipper and large skipper.  The skippers, in particular, are congregating by the ponds to drink.  It is really lovely to see these little butterflies on the wing.  They are joined by six-spot burnet moths in numbers I haven’t seen for a long time.  Speckled wood are also present in large numbers inside the wood, and I’m waiting to see the first purple hairstreaks of the year.

The ponds are starting to draw down due to the dry weather, some areas drying out completely – we are letting them do this, as temporary pond habitats are very valuable.  Over the ponds are large numbers of four-spotted chaser dragonflies, broad-bodied chasers, southern hawkers, and the first common darters.  In the trees are the brown hawkers and best of all are the wonderful emperor dragonflies – today I spotted a female laying her eggs in one of our ponds.  We also have blue-tailed, azure, common blue, large red, banded demoiselle damselflies on the wing at the moment and I’m looking out for the white-legged damselflies and emerald damselflies which tend to emerge a bit later.  There is frenzied activity over the ponds as the dragonflies and damselflies jostle for territory and prime egg-laying sites.

After such a difficult summer in 2012, and such a cold and prolonged winter, it is wonderful so see so many of these insects on the wing.  There are obviously enough to provide food for large numbers of swifts and swallows, as well as our resident hobby, and at night, plenty of food for the bats too.

I’ve managed to snap a few pictures – hope you enjoy them!