Dragonflies and Damselflies

These are surely not the best of my dragonfly pictures but maybe the most important and most difficult to shoot.
This is a golden-ringed dragonfly (cordulegaster boltonii). I've heard and read about these but never thought they would also live around the corner.
An endangered species in Germany (Red list V, IUCN NT*). As is the green-eyed hawker (Red list 3, IUCN VU*). (*If I transfer this right)
And maybe my pics can help to safe its habitat.
A friend of mine told me that he saw a dragonfly in the woods that he thought to be from the genus cordulegaster but he didn‘t know which. He asked me to take pictures to determine it.
So I went into the „dark“ forest and found those patrolling along a small stream.
Bad light, narrow angel of view and those never sitting or hovering.
Until I saw this female (?) resting and took my chance.

With fill flash:
golden-ringed_01.JPG

Natural light (1/200, ISO1600):
golden-ringed_02.JPG

And here the "best" tries on a male in flight (1/500, ISO1600+):
golden-ringed_DIF01.JPG

golden-ringed_DIF02.JPG
 
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These are surely not the best of my dragonfly pictures but maybe the most important and most difficult to shoot.
This is a golden-ringed dragonfly (cordulegaster boltonii).
An endangered species in Germany (Red list V, IUCN NT*). As is the green-eyed hawker (Red list 3, IUCN VU*). (*If I transfer this right)
And maybe my pics can help to safe its habitat.
A friend of mine told me that he saw a dragonfly in the woods that he thought to be from the genus cordulegaster but he didn‘t know which. He asked me to take pictures to determine it.
So I went into the „dark“ forest and found those patrolling along a small stream.
Bad light, narrow angel of view and those never sitting or hovering.
Until I saw this female (?) resting and took my chance.

With fill flash:
View attachment 199488

Natural light (1/200, ISO1600):
View attachment 199489

And here the "best" tries on a male in flight (1/500, ISO1600+):
View attachment 199490

View attachment 199491
Well done!
 
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The first picture is really nice. Well done, Maximilian.
Same opinion here!
I posted the other just to show how much a fill flash can do.
And when you look at the BG you can see the effect that slightly different angel can have.
The "natural light" was the first and in a hurry just to get the determination pic.
For the second one I had some more time to get closer and think of composition and flash etc.
 
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A scarce chaser (libellula fulva).
I suppose in the past I posted some pics where I mistakenly thought they were skimmers.
For those looking for differences:
- of course the black spots on the wing tips - but those are not always there
That's where the German Name comes from: Spitzenfleck = tip spot
- The triangle spots at the inner hind wings (skimmers don't have them)
- blue compound eyes (skimmers have greenish)
- sometimes black spots at the third (and fourth) segment of the abdomen

scarce_chaser_04.JPG

Here is an older one I've posted before as skimmer with almost no black spots on the wing tips but therefore the black and blue abdomen

scarce_chaser_02.JPG
 
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