Today summer was back again and we spent a few hours at Maple Glen Garden, a magnificent private family garden at Glenham in Southland. They have lots of ponds and I was very excited to find many damselflies in a few areas. New Zealand.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
This image is cropped from the photo after it, to provide a close-up.
Click on it (x2) to see it full-size.
The damselfly detail was best in this photo.
I also kept this one because the flower and background looked pretty.
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2021)
Exploring Colour 
Wow, how did I miss this when you posted it, Liz. I am so jealous that you are seeing damselflies–I will have to wait for at least a few months. There is something special, almost magical about dragonflies and damselflies.
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So nice you’ve found my damselflies! It was very exciting to see them as I didn’t know I could see lots of them at once, both red and blue, down here in the south! There was an occasional big dragonfly but they flew above the water and teased me by sometimes hovering – I didn’t get anything more than a blur!
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I actually have a book called Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Zealand that has wonderful information about all of the species there. There are only 14 species that are recognized as breeding in New Zealand. Your damselflies appear to be the Blue Damselfly (Austrolestes colensis) and the Redcoat Damselfly (Xanthocnemis zealandica). Looking at the range maps, it looks like you would be most likely to see a Yellow-spotted dragonfly (Procordulia grayi) or possibly a Lancer dragonfly (Aeshna brevistyla) or Ranger dragonfly (Procordulia smithii).
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Redcoat damselfly is a wonderful name .. thanks for looking. I was pretty sure you’d mentioned having the book! Couldn’t see any detail of the dragonflies so unfortunately I can’t offer any identifying features.
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The third one is also the one I like best.
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Yes, I agree with that. Thanks.
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While it is nice to see the details I do like seeing more of the flower and especially like the composition of your third image. Liz. Great catch!
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Glad I included the third one .. thanks Ellen!
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I’m glad your summer came back! You must have very quick reactions to be able to catch the damselflies. 🙂
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The blues were more inclined to rest. The reds were only possible because it was mating time. And there were a few big dragonflies but they flew incessantly – I never saw one land. I only captured a ghostly looking blur over the water!
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I’ve had some frustrating times with dragonflies and damselflies etc. over here. Hopefully the pond will attract them when it’s finished. (Still working on it – shifting buckets of soil away today.)
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