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!

Finally!

After all these weeks, I did finally get out there and I have had a great field day... with dragonflies! 

And damselflies and a few other insects too.

There's so much to put down in writing and so many photos to share and talk about but it can't all happen at once.  So I'll have to start from the beginning and one at a time...

When I got to the first pond for the day, there were lots of dragonflies buzzing around over the water and as many dragonflies were perched on the grasses at the edge of the pond.  What a sight!

How I have missed them!

A lot of these dragonflies were of the Neurothemis spp, both N. fluctuans and N. fulvia, and they were most easily spotted due to their coloured wings.  And there were plenty of them!  There were also quite a number of red dragonflies around and a few of the other species too.

And it was both amusing and fascinating to watch the males of these species face off on their territorial fights.

It was a hot day and perhaps a bit too bright for photography.  Nevertheless, these are some of the pics I took today...

 

Neurothemis fulvia

 

Neurothemis fluctuans

 

Crocothemis servilia

 

Brachydiplax chalybea

 

Rhyothemis phyllis

 

Urothemis signata

 

And I would have to wait till another day and time to tell the next part of the story...

 

 

Libellulidae - Neurothemis fulvia

Libellulidae - Neurothemis fluctuans

This species is often referred to by the common name "Red Grasshawk".

Simply Beautiful!

It was only yesterday that I found out I have more than one visitor among the ferns and potted plants at home.

 

 

This is the female of the Neurothemis fluctuans.  She is such a beautiful creature!

 

 

Judging by the perfect, undamaged, shiny wings, she is a young female.  Females of this species have hindwing length of 22-25 mm.  The wings are hyaline or transparent and there is also a very light yellow tint at the base of the wings.  They do not have the distinctive coloured wing patterns that you would find in the males. 

For a number of species of Odonata, you would not always find the females except when they come out to mate.  In most cases, after mating and laying their eggs, the females would fly away to their hiding places to rest until when they next come out again.

Elusive creatures. 

But isn't she simply beautiful?

 

 

My Visitor Is Growing Up Fast!

 

This guy have been greeting me every morning for over a week now.  And I am quite certain he has made his home among the ferns, one of many among the potted plants in front of my window. 

Whenever the sun comes up early in the morning, he'll come out and bask in the sun. 

Sometimes I disturb him from slumber when I am watering the plants early in the morning and he'll then perch nearby on a twig or leaf to watch me and wait for me to finish.  He lets me get within inches of him.

 

 

It is an immature male of the Neurothemis fluctuans.  You can see the distinctive pattern on its wings though the colour of its wings is still a light brown tint.

Over the days, his colouration has become richer and darker as he grows into an adult.  The above pictures were taken on 19 September 2009. 

This morning I had the chance to take another photo of him.

 

 

In five days, his colour has turned to a darker brown.  He is growing up fast and will soon reach maturity.  And then, he will fly away to an area with water, probably the nearby padi fields, to stake his territory and begin looking for a mate.

Dragonflies often bask in the sun early in the morning as they need warmth for activity and during the day they maintain a certain internal temperature, which is quite high at approximately 43°C (or 110°F).  When morning breaks, the cold dragonfly has to prepare itself to get started for the day.  It will shiver its wings to create heat or stay perched in the sun until its thorax is warmed up enough to take flight for it to begin feeding and mating.

 

 

A Reddish Brown Species

On one of the days when I was out walking on a trail, I came across another Neurothemis species perched on a twig next to a stream.  It was not bothered by me at all when I got closer to have a look and then to take a few photos.

 

 

This is the Neurothemis fulvia of the family Libellulidae and it is easily differentiated from the Neurothemis fluctuans as it is slightly larger and has a reddish brown abdomen.  The hindwing length of the male is 28-31 mm.  Even the markings on the wings are different, namely the margins of the terminal hyaline area, which is roughly a convex.  Also, there is a tint that extends to its wing-tips.

 

 

Again, this species is widespread in mainland tropical Asia and commonly found around sluggish streams, mainly in lowland areas.

It is always a pleasure to sit on the grass next to a stream or on the edge of a pond and just absorb the beauty and serenity of the surroundings and listen the sounds of nature, the gurgles of a flowing stream, the music of the forest with the droning of some insects and a few birds chirping away.  All these have a very calming effect on the mind, body and soul.

And sitting there watching the activities of the dragonflies can be simply fascinating.

These are the simple pleasures in life.

 

 

A Brown Dragonfly

Lately, there have been so many other things on my mind and keeping me busy, such that I have not been out looking for dragonflies for a few weeks now.  And I miss it.  Yet I must admit there are quite a few species that I had come across earlier and still have not done anything about them for one reason or another.

Now that it has been raining quite a fair bit, it is about time I catch up on my checklist.....

 

 

This is the Neurothemis fluctuans of the family Libellulidae.  It is a common dragonfly often seen at various places throughout the island here and can be found around lakes, drains, marshes, padi and sometimes even in clearings far from water.  This species is widespread throughout tropical Asia.

 

 

This dragonfly has hindwing of 22-24 mm, its abdomen is mainly brown and it is easily differentiated from other Neurothemis species by the distinctive pattern on its hindwings.

I have also had the chance to come across a half-mature male of this species, before its wings attained full colouration with maturity, as shown in the picture below.

 

 

And then, early one morning just after the rain had stopped, I saw an immature male perched among some twigs in the bushes in my backyard. 

 

 

I wonder if dragonflies sleep in places like this in the bushes during the night?