Large Wiretail (1/4)

Odonata: Isostictidae

Labidiosticta vallisi  

I had discovered from the Atlas of Living Australia website that Large Wiretail damselflies could be found in various locations around Brisbane and so I picked the closest one to home and set off up Mount Nebo Road to investigate Cedar Creek at Bellbird Grove in D'Aguilar National Park.

With little rain this summer in Brisbane I found Cedar Creek to be bone dry for most of its length with only very small pools of water far apart from each other. I eventually found a reasonable sized pool of water and as I approached one end of the pool, a damselfly could be seen flitting in and out of some creekside vegetation.

I approached carefully (stumbling over rocks) and slowly lifted my camera only to notice the camera strap was hanging over the end of the lens. I cleared the strap and then looked for the Large Wiretail. Where was it. Oh, it had flown closer probably to have a laugh at my expense. The camera would not focus and so I switched to manual focus and took my first photo. After two hours of searching, finally, a Large Wiretail.