An Afternoon With The Vestalis!

It had rained in the morning.

So... there goes my plan for the day, I thought.  Nevertheless, I was quite happy to stay indoors with a good book and stay dry and nice on days when I don't have to get all drenched in the rain like when I am working in the outdoors.

Contrary to what the weather forecast had said, rain in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon, the sun did come out much later in the day.  I was feeling rather lazy by then and was a bit reluctant to get moving but an opportunity to go looking for dragonflies is something I seldom resist!

The first creature to greet me was a Vestalis damselfly.  And as it turned out, this is one of the rare days with encounters of more than a dozen Vestalis damselflies!  Perhaps even a score... I had lost count!

Not only that, even though I had just missed witnessing a pair in wheel, I did get the chance to observe the behaviour of an ovipositing pair.

The male Vestalis gracilis damselfly was guarding the female throughout the ovipositing process, which took over fifteen minutes to complete.

The female damselfly took her time, carefully ovipositing her eggs into the grass stems at several different spots in the flowing water.

The male damselfly would be nearby the whole time.  Sometimes perched right next to her and keeping a lookout while at other times keeping a watchful eye on the female.

Once the oviposition was completed, both damselflies flew away in different directions to perch in different places.

I would have taken tons of photos but it was not easy.  The female would be perched on a grass stem that is quivering in the ripple of the stream.  With the slight breeze, she would also be quavering and almost swaying from side to side while she is ovipositing her eggs.  Add to that, my hands were shaky in my haste to capture the moment as fast as I could in case I missed it.  Arrrgh!

Finally, I did calm down enough to get a few shots that good enough!

After that, I did come across another pair of Vestalis damselflies in the midst of their courtship dance and sat down to watch and wait.  During this time, the female damselfly stopped momentarily to perch only once and the dancing would continue again.

But it was not meant to be.  After about thirty minutes, both damselflies went their separate ways.  Perhaps it had been just tedious.  Or perhaps because night would be approaching soon.

But, besides the Vestalis damselflies, I have another two species to add to my checklist!

What a great day indeed!