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Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

A male common darter, from the Netherlands.

I found a large amount of these dragonflies flying around the dunes near the coast. Most of them were found near patches of sand. Here is an example of a log with a few of them standing:

Some of them would stand in the sand and start digging. I also saw some standing while quickly moving their wings. And some of them were mating.

Another thing I noticed is that they were surprisingly unresponsive to disturbances. For example, I would put my camera right to their face and they would not fly away:

Yesterday was very windy and colder than previous days, and so I think maybe these were a bit slow because of the fast drop in temperature and/or being tired from flying in such strong winds. Or maybe they are just too concerned with mating to be worried about my presence.

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