Southern hawker ovipositing

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 100-400mm & Ext Tube Auto ISO 3200 1/125 sec f11, I took images with and without flash. Image created using DPP 4
At last I found a dragonfly ovipositing, what puzzled me was that it was always into wood of plants above water level. As you might imagine I have many images of this dragonfly. I posted this particular one to show the sharp ovipositor just about to be inserted in the wood. Image taken in my garden pond.
All C&C welcome.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

A fine natural history moment Jon. Very well captured with nice details. The eyes curiously get drawn to the sharp ovipositor. Feels very real and as though the DF is right in front of you.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice, but, really, no fair shooting one that's sitting still! :w3 Good sharpness on the body -- the OOF wings don't bother me -- they give it an artistic twist, and no way you could expect to cover that much DOF. The BG and wood colors are perfect for the subject.

[Steve Maxson]

A very cool behavioral image with excellent sharpness, nice light, and a clean background! Hawkers (we call them Darners over here) typically insert their eggs in the stems of underwater plants - using that sharp ovipositor to cut into the plants. I wonder if this one isn't a bit misguided. It would be interesting to find out if the eggs laid in this wood successfully hatch. :S3: