A Coloured Thread: Nature's Iridescence # II

We had one ages ago but I thought a new one would be appropriate.

Also the individual Colours threads were good...

This is the best in flight eye shot I have ever managed to get. View 100% to see the eye cells.

Australian Emerald

Thanks Alan...

The range of these critters you have around your place is huge. How many different colours do you think you have? I rarely see more than one colour around my neighbourhood and never the gemlike types you get.

Let me think

The above wins hands down because of its iridescence and changing shades depending on angle of light - also easiest to capture in flight.
Its cousin the Tau Emerald has brown / tan eyes with a touch of reddy brown inserts and yellowish body with black stripes..
The Red Skimmer has shiny brown eyes, red body and solid red colouring at the base of its rear wings.
The Black faced Percher has shiny dark brown to black eyes and red body.
The Blue Skimmer has dark brown / grey eyes with a pale blue grading to off white tail.
The Orange Skimmer has shiny brown eyes with bright orange tail.
The Australian Emperor has dull green / grey eyes and greyish body - he is the biggest I have seen.
The Green Marsh Hawk has shiny dark green eyes with a dark or mid grey body with white / off white stripes. He's a cannibal - eats other dragonflies...
The Australian Tiger has grey eyes and soft yellow grading to blue alternating with black stripes. His eyes are noticeably smaller - they don't cover so much of the face.
The Water Prince has dark brown eyes with dark body and white stripes and light rings and diamond markings on it's tail.

There are many more - 325 all together in Australia alone...

I have read the odd web page from people who document them. They seem to be able to find a lot more than I have although they may travel around a lot.

I identified 4 of 5 I found where I was first capturing them.
Then I identified the unknown one and found 5 more in the last 6 months about 50 kilometres away from the original spot. I found the last 3 in the space of a week or so. That made me wonder how many more I might find... And some of the latter ones I have only seen in one location / water source.

Fun facts:
I heard recently they have about 25,000 eye sites (ommatidia) which are each an eye in their own right with a lens and their own receptors. Each ommatidia creates its own mosaic which are then combined into one larger mosaic. I was referring to them as cells but the cells are much smaller than that.
Their eyes have a much greater dynamic range than ours and can see into the UV part of the spectrum, can see better in low light and have a much greater DoF.

I see these around every now and then. I was driving across a farm and only just noticed the sheen so will keep an eye out for a better opportunity.

Straw necked Ibis

Wow! The colours!