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Edwin Giesbers's Image
Still drowsy from sleep, banded demoiselles wait for the Sun to heat their bodies up so their aerial mating dance can begin.
Edwin spent many mornings at the same spot on the banks of his hometown river, watching them wake. The male at the front, with a black band on its wings, is about to take off. Male banded demoiselles are highly territorial, defending sites where females, such as the three in the background, will come to lay their eggs. If a male successfully mates, it will guard the female until it has finished laying. These eggs eventually hatch as aquatic larvae, which live for two years as underwater predators, before emerging as flying adults.
Behind the lens
Edwin Giesbers
The Netherlands
Edwin is a professional photographer who has been published in BBC Wildlife Magazine, National Geographic, Terre Sauvage and Camera Natura. In 2011 National Geographic commissioned him and Dutch Media to produce a nature photography book in the Netherlands and Belgium. He is a member of the International Environment Photographers Association.
Image details
- Nikon D7100
- Tamron f2.8 90mm at 00mm
- 1/250 sec at f9 (+2 e/v) • ISO 400
- River Leijgraaf, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Copyright in WPY competition photographs remains the property of the respective photographers. You may not copy, share, reproduce or republish the photographs except as expressly permitted by copyright law. For media image usage enquiries, please contact us.
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