Pages

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Gossamer Wings



It's the season when dragonflies abound. And yet I really
haven't started clicking away because the heat is so intense
and so oppressive, that the idea of being out in the sun is
scary! Only the glitter of gold could drag me outside, for
a short while....

This beautiful dragonfly is the Common Picture Wing/Variable
Glider, Rhyothemis variegata. This is a male. The female has
more black markings on its wings. This is only the second
time that this dragonfly has graced my yard. It's a slow
flier but I was waiting for it to rest on to some plant and
finally it did, on the dry twig of a basil. I hope I'll see
it again.



Braved the heat yesterday to take these pictures. If you
click on the picture, you'll see those fine lines on the
wings.





This is a tiny dragonfly I found in the afternoon. I cannot
identify many of the dragonflies I photograph but I know
these are the ones commonly found near ponds and other low-
lying areas.














"Will you walk into my parlour...?" It so happens that the
"fly" here is rather large. Predator and prey are almost of
the same size. And yet....! Found this sight on my ornamental
pine-apple, which also happens to be Home Sweet Home to the
ferocious-looking spider.

16 comments:

tina said...

Your pictures are as exquisite as the beautiful dragonflies. Do try to stay cool and Happy Mother's Day to you!

Anonymous said...

Kanak, I have never seen such spectacular photos of dragonflies in my life. Nalley and I are just fascinated by the clarity and detail of your pictures. Thank you for sharing this morning and I wish you a very happy day.

NatureStop said...

You have got great shots of the dragonflies!!We have spotted a few here but as you have rightly pointed out the heat has actually stopped us from going outdoors.We actually have to take a long drive to even find a park here:-)

NatureStop said...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Anonymous said...

A fitting title for your post Kanak! Beautiful shots. Happy Mother's Day. :)

HelenJ said...

Lovely photos as always. It is fantastic to watch these lovely creatures this close. Thanks for showing!
I hope it will get cooler soon so you can go out into your garden and shoot some more amazing photos! =)

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

I love the dragonflies. The golden one is so graceful with its golden wings. I always think of them as ballerinas on tippy toes dancing to the sounds of the wind and the songs of the birds. Beautiful observations and great photos.

Wendy said...

Ohhhh - such clear, close-up pics! You can see right through their wings!! They do look like miniature dragons, don't they?

Hope the heat lets up. It was beautiful in Florida for my vacation, but today here in Montreal, Canada, it's cold! In the 40's or 9 Celcius. But, it will warm up as the week goes on.

Stephanie said...

The dragonfly seems colourless. Never seen this kind over here before. Nice shots!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for your comments...reading them will surely make me go outside and get more of these shots:) It rained last night so the temp has come down a wee bit. Enough to put the drive back in me again! Let's hope it stays that way for a few days.

Stephanie, some of them, especially the one in the close-ups do look colourless. But in some of the shots you see the very pale green with black lines. The reds don't want to stop by......I'll wait.

Sunita Mohan said...

Great photos, Kanak. Dragonflies are a bit of a paradox arent they? They look so delicate, yet they are such fierce hunters and of course their comical faces always make me feel like laughing :D

Frances said...

Oooh, Kanak, those are just marvelous! Thanks for braving the heat to capture them on pixels for us to enjoy. We have seen a couple, but not like it will be when the summer arrives here. The spider was a beauty too! :-)
Frances

Unknown said...

Sunita, that's right. The other day I found one at night competing with the lizards at gobbling the tiny insects. Boy, what an appetite it had. Even the lizards steered clear of its path!

Thanks Frances. These spiders must've been around for a long time but thank God I blog:) Or else I might never have noticed them! As for the dragonflies, there'll be more later.
Thank you for stopping by.

My Mother's Garden said...

Hi Kanak~
What beautiful photos of the dragonfly! I enjoyed looking at the intricate patterns in their wings.
Thank you! The spider was pretty cool looking too! Hope it cools down a bit soon.
Happy day~ Karrita

Unknown said...

Karrita, it did cool down a bit because of the rains. Not too heavy but enough to keep us from near insanity:) Glad you enjoyed seeing the patterns on the wings.

have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

Thank you for these photos Kanak, I write a blog about Thai gardening and landscaping. I was wondering if you would like to link exhange?

http://thaigardendesign.typepad.com

Let me know and we can share traffic. best regards, Ben