Swarming Dragonflies!

 

Been sitting on a comfortable chair on my patio and watching several groups of swarming dragonflies the last few days.  Mostly Pantala flavescens, and I'm guessing, possibly a few dragonflies of one or two other species together in the whole swarm.

There must be several scores of them in one of these swarms, zapping to and fro just above the coconut palms.  The closest swarm is about 10 metres away from me.  And I get a good view of these swarms since I'm on the first floor and looks out to just about the top of these coconut palms.  From time to time, a few of these dragonflies would stop to perch on the palm fronds.  But mostly, after a while, the swarm would gradually move further and further away. 

By then, I would have finished my breakfast as well and have to get to work anyway. 

But it's always nice to start the day watching these dragonflies and spend a bit of time pondering about nature and all its mysteries!  These are such amazing insects!  There's so much energy there!  And these dragonflies seem just so free!

As I watch them, I often imagine myself being one of those dragonflies in those swarms there..... 

What a feeling!

A Little Trail Revisited

It has certainly been quite a while since I last went walking on a trail, spend a few hours feasting my eyes on dragonflies, butterflies, insects, etc., and getting myself immersed in nature!  

Today, the opportunity for that came about.

Just the usual common species encountered but it was great to have a little rendezvous with some of my favourite subjects out there.   So, here's a little bit of everything to keep the balance!

Heliocypha biforata

 

Trithemis festiva

Vestalis sp.

Another Vestalis sp.

Robber Fly

   

A close up of the Robber fly

Pantala flavescens

Orthetrum sabina

Tholymis tillarga

 A dragonfly exuvia

A fresh Cicada exoskeleton.  

There were lots of these everywhere!

Sun Skink

The black Hospitalitermes Termites!

 

The Fluffy Tit 

And could this be the The Knight (Lebadea Martha)? 

One of the species of grasshoppers, but which is this?

Water Skater

Specimens

Finally met up with one of the top odonatologists of Malaysia, the dragonflyman, Ian Choong, himself.  

It was a short meeting but getting to meet an odonatologist and talk about dragonfly species and behaviour and our quest for dragonflies is something I don't get to do everyday.  And I have been looking forward to meeting Ian for quite a long time, so I really enjoyed the hour chatting with him.

Also, I was on a mission.

Last year, I'd met up with Robin Ngiam, the odonatologist from Singapore, and Wei Ling, and we went exploring.  There were several species that are not found in Singapore but can be found here and Robin had a list of species which he'd like to look at.  So we had great day out dragonfly hunting.  Anyway, during their short holiday here, two specimens were collected.  And since then, these specimens have sat in a container in my freezer.  

Yes, like a dragonfly morgue of some sort.

Finally, these specimens have been handed to Ian so that he can take a really good look at them and determine its correct species.

I had a great sigh of relief when Ian checked both specimens and they were still in good condition. 

Whew!

Perhaps we'll have another species to add to the checklist for Langkawi..... or maybe even two?

The Little Beauties In A Neglected Park

The Lagenda Park is actually quite a nice place for a walk or a jog or to just enjoy a few hours of nature. 

Lots of trees, particularly the spectacular raintrees, lots of birds and squirrels and dragonflies, lots of lotus plants, and lots more!  And there's even a little stretch of beach out there that's actually quite clean.  It may come as a surprise to you but this beach is actually cleaned up in the morning!  These are some of the reasons why I think this place is great!

But the park seems to be in such a state of neglect that it is quite SHOCKING!!!  In truth, the flora and fauna at the park is thriving quite well but the man-made structures are deteriorating.

This park was officially opened in 1996.  As this is one of the 'landmarks' on the tourist map, it is quite unbelievable that it would be left like this!  Some of the gazebos, a few structures, and mostly the light fixtures and toilet facilities are broken and in disrepair.  There are broken water wheels and bits of rubbish floating in some of the ponds, filled with what looks like murky, stagnant water!  What kind of an impression does it give of the park management or of the relevant authorities?

Such a shame!

I have visited this park on many occasions over the years.  For a morning run through the park, for a walk just to enjoy the outdoors on a beautiful day, for nature photography, for 'wildlife' watch and to observe dragonflies. 

Year after year, the state of the park keeps going down, down, down, downhill.

It is not that the park is abandoned.  The park grounds is not exactly small.  Granted, the layout and features of the park requires a lot of manpower for its upkeep.  There are security guards patrolling the area regularly on their motorbikes, more so towards the evening to ensure there isn't anyone loitering around after 7pm.  And then there is the landscaping crew at work most of the time.

I have often observed the handful of staff, probably contracted "landscaping crew", rake fallen leaves and rubbish on the grounds and pack them into rubbish bags. 

Sometimes, they would just be weeding . 

A lot of weeding.....

 

And sometimes, other staff would be cutting grass and the grass cuttings packed into rubbish bags as well.  Such that there is always this huge pile of bulging rubbish bags amassing outside the side entrance.  Then, from time to time, there'd be open burning in their attempt to get rid of all these rubbish.

When I see the park abuzz with all those activities, I can't help thinking that perhaps the maintenance budget is insufficient and valuable resources are being channelled to the wrong areas.  Those leaves are going to fall every day, throughout the day and night.  Each time there is a breeze rustling through the trees, more leaves will fall.  And each time it rains.....

But fallen leaves are all part of the natural surroundings.  If the leaf litter get to decompose on the ground, the process would be recycling nutrients back into the earth.  These leaves are not rubbish!  Whenever there are local visitors to the park, especially picnickers, there would be rubbish strewn everywhere!  Plastic bags and cups, styrofoam packs and cups and other non-biodegradable stuff.  Those are the real rubbish!

Imagine the amount of time and effort put into raking those leaves each day, every day!  It must seem like such a pointless, Herculean task to the people carrying out these jobs!  And I am also thinking, they must be spending thousands of ringgits purchasing all those rubbish bags and raking those leaves!  When will they even think about trying to reduce the use of these plastic bags?  What if these grass cuttings and leaves are mulched?  And composting is practiced?  What if they spend the money on maintaining the facilities instead? 

It seems that over time, more and more and bigger landmarks keep popping up in the Langkawi landscape - Marble Square, Book Village, Eagle Square, Infinity Bridge and the upcoming, massive Tower of Langkawi.  The amount spent on building these 'monuments' are astounding!  The trouble is that a few years down the line, these very same people who approved and lauded these project will then lament on the exorbitant cost of maintaining these structures and leave it to rot. 

But these same key people would have also gotten some money in their pockets by then so why would they care?

The estimated cost for building the 135-metre Tower of Langkawi is a whopping RM10 million.  At the very least!  What all these landmarks are is more concrete structures to destroy and mar the natural beauty of Langkawi. 

If there isn't going to be a budget for ongoing maintenance and upkeep in the long term, why spend the money to build it in the first place?

Will there be an end to this?

Just imagine if a fraction of that money is channelled towards the upkeep for these parks, instead of building another white elephant!  What a huge, huge difference it would make to these places!

I see the beauty of Lagenda Park in nature's little gems........

And in just a few hours, you would be feeling sated with the positive energies of nature!

These are the jewels of Langkawi.
Will these nature's gems be conserved and protected?

Why build more concrete structures that would just end up being eyesores?

A Morning Jaunt

In recent weeks I have been going for walks in the parks, again. 

And it feels great! 

If I set out early in the morning, it is possible to get my dose of nature for a few hours.  By the time the crowd starts milling in, I would be ready to leave anyway.

It's been great to resume my rendezvous with the dragonflies!

Caught this pair of Orthetrum sabina in wheel on one of those mornings!




The sun had just come up behind these dragonflies..

Love them!
And I love mornings like these!

Sediment Pollution

It had rained quite heavily last night. 

I had thought it would be a good day to visit the parks and ponds.  But the sight that greeted me on my first stop was terrible.  Never mind that the grasses have had a mud wash in the deluge of muddy water and is looking half-dead but the pond is a murky, earthy yellow from sediment pollution.  The siltation and turbid water is the result of development on the hills further upstream leading to soil erosion when there is heavy rain. And there has been quite some rain in recent weeks and last night.

It is very disheartening indeed.

I could count barely a score of dragonflies buzzing around.  It practically broke my heart.  I had spotted a few rare species here before.  What will happen to the eggs they have laid and to the larvae?

The sight of even the most common of species was such a gift this morning.

Urothemis signata

Crocothemis servilia

Orthetrum sabina

I do think this construction project here is the culprit for the pollution downstream.....

With the removal of  the protective vegetative covering on these soils, loose sediments have been washed into the stream with surface water runoff when there is heavy rain.

This will definitely have a serious and adverse impact on the ecology and water quality in these streams and ponds.  The sediment will choke fish, plants and other life in these ponds.  Not only that, the sediment particles will also absorb warmth from the sun and increase water temperature. 

At the rate things are going, it would be very difficult and probably take a long time for recovery if it does happen.  Eventually, what we may have left is a degraded habitat void of healthy biodiversity.

I did not stay very long and went to another spot where I could sit next to a clear flowing stream.  The sounds of the gurgling water eventually calmed me down and the few dragonflies that flitted about brought some joy to my heart.

Libellulidae - Camacinia gigantea

Gigantic Indeed!

Started the day with a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and doing crossword puzzles at the same time.  Yes, that is another of my favourite things to do!  And I can easily get quite engrossed with it and totally forget the time... like this morning.

When I finally looked up and looked out the window, "Wow!  It's a beautiful morning!  Bright and sunny!" 

This must be one of the brightest mornings for the week thus far!  So I grabbed my bag and headed out to the park expecting to see the usual species of dragonflies and damselflies.  What does it matter when I will still have a good field day out there, right?  After all, it's been ages since I last had a date with these dragonflies.

When I was nearing the first pond, I could see what looked like one of the Neurothemis dragonflies fluttering up and down over the length of the pond.  But when I got closer, I realised it is a much larger dragonfly.  This dragonfly is huge in comparison!  And the way it was fluttering about patrolling its territory was slightly different as well, not the usual 'mannerisms' of the Neurothemis dragonflies that I have watched so many times before.  I waited... hoping it would perch on one of the lilies so that I can have a good look at it.

Instead, it flew off to perch on a twig high above the water.  I was certainly piqued by now.  That is definitely quite unlike the behaviour of the Neurothemis species I have been observing!  By now, I was absolutely certain this would be another species to add to the checklist for Langkawi.

And I was right!  This beautiful, dark-reddish dragonfly is not a Neurothemis after all!  I had  certainly been fooled by its similar colour and pattern!

This large dragonfly is quite appropriately named the Camacinia gigantea, of the Libellulidae family.  The male has hindwing length of 44-47 mm.  According to the Pocket Guide, this dragonfly can be found at ponds and lakes in open areas, especially along the landward margins of mangroves, widespread but rare in the Indo-Australian tropics.

I stalked this dragonfly until I was satisfied that I have at least a few good photos.  I had observed only two males of the C. gigantea dragonflies at the pond this morning...  where are all the ladies?

In the earlier part of the morning, this male dragonfly frequently left its perch on the twig to patrol over the pond and chase the other male dragonfly away, showing dominance over his territory.  Some time later, I had observed both male dragonflies perched within a foot of each other on the same twig.  Interesting!

It has certainly been a great morning with an unexpected bonus!

The Golden Orange Female Dragonfly With Dark Wing Tips

This golden orange dragonfly is good looking, isn't it?

This dragonfly had been spotted back in July while on a dragonfly hunting trip with Robin and Wei Ling.  After taking a few photos each, we stood around the dragonfly and tried to figure out which dragonfly species this could be.  The markings on the wing tips had us thinking for a minute that perhaps it is the female of the Cratilla metallica.....

But then Robin asked, "Isn't the female Cratilla metallica darker in colour?  Can you remember?"  I tried to search the images in my head and think, but was uncertain.  We could not be entirely sure of the id of this dragonfly.  Robin was quite certain it is possibly another species.

And thanks to Robin, he had recently had Rory Dow confirm the id of this dragonfly to be the female of the Lyriothemis biappendiculata of the family Libelliludae.

So here's another species to add to the Checklist for Langkawi.  Yippeeeee!

Thanks a million to both Robin and Wei Ling!

Trithemis aurora

Recently took this pic of the Trithemis aurora in obelisk position on a hot afternoon.....

Morning Rendezvous

Spent a few hours this morning being mesmerized by dragonflies and damselflies at a pond.  The whole scenery was alive with the buzzing of various dragonflies and damselflies such that I was totally enraptured!

As I watched, my heart went out to this Platylestes heterostylus as a Pseudagrion australasiae kept attacking it as it perched on a stem, chasing it away.  It took a while, and several perches later, before it found peace of mind and eventually began its morning stretching routine by flexing and swinging its abdomen in an aerobic workout.

This Pseudagrion australasiae is really quite a bully...

One of the Lestes praemorsus at the pond.  There were quite a number of them, all perched quite inconspicuously, minding their own business, each in its own world of daydreams.

I wonder what happened to that wing of this Neurothemis fulvia?  Looks as if it's been scorched.  Doesn't it make you wonder?

The Aethriamanta gracilis was rather flighty but finally managed to take a few photos.  Spotted several of them this morning.

Also spotted about five of these tiny yellow damselflies of the species Ceriagrion calamineum.

A contrast to the yellow damselfly above is this dashing red dragonfly, the Urothemis signata.

A number of these hovered near my feet.  These really tiny Agriocnemis femina could easily dart away and disappear from sight in a fraction of a second.

These damselflies sharing a twig.

And another favourite hangout on a twig with more than just one damselfly.

And then, there was also this bee that had me distracted for a bit.....

What a great morning indeed!