Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Nature Notes/Dragonflies & Butterflies Of Deepor Beel


The sky reflected in the calm waters of Deepor Beel

For today's post, my husband and I headed to Deepor Beel, the largest water body in our area. It's on the outskirts of our city and it's always a treat to be there and photograph the flora and fauna. If you remember my last Nature Notes post I had gone gaga over a solitary Common Picture Wing dragonfly in my garden. But at Deepor Beel, they were clouds of them flying in the air and on twigs and dead branches. The photo shows the male and female. Females have more of the black spots.

Scarlet Basker/Urothemis signata
Although this spectacular dragonfly is said to be fairly common around low-lying marshy areas, I haven't seen it in our neighbourhood. There were about a dozen of these beauties where I stopped to take tons of photos.
I couldn't resist taking these shots. Wherever I looked, they were there!!!

Another basker!


Trumpet Tail

A moth on a small stem of a wild bush.
Ditch Jewel

Clouds of Common Picture Wing dragonflies (again!) were hovering in the air. I only managed to capture a small "cloud".
Not sure what this one, and the one below, are called.

 A swallowtail butterfly larger than the ones I see in my garden, feeding on the blooms of the lantana. The lantana's blooms attract several butterflies. The plant  is one of the most invasive weeds in our region.
Another pretty dragonfly that I have never seen before.


A pair of bee-eaters
Golden Birdwing Butterfly

The Golden Birdwing is one of the largest and most beautiful Asian swallowtail butterflies. I have seen it a few times in our city's outskirts but had never managed a decent picture. They are very difficult to photograph as they flit from flower to flower, feeding only for split seconds!! I hadn't expected to see find this butterfly here. It was truly a day well spent!

There's more in store here at Michelle's meme Nature Notes....http://ramblingwoods.com/

 



10 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What delightful captures for the day! Your little critter photos never fail to amaze me! Beautiful colors! Enjoy your day!!

Carver said...

Great shots. You captured so many different kinds of beautiful dragonflies.

Giga said...

Wspaniałe miejsce wybrałaś na spacer. Były tam cudowne ważki ( niektórych jeszcze nie widziałam), oraz przepiękne motyle, szczególnie ostatni. Pozdrawiam.
You picked a great place for a walk. There were wonderful dragonflies (some still have not seen), and the beautiful butterflies, especially the last one. Yours.

Rambling Woods said...

Oh wow Kanak..all those dragonflies. I never seen a cloud of them or more than a few and most are not in those beautiful colors. Even the moth is beautiful..love the collage...great photos for Nature Notes..Michelle

Andrea said...

OMG Kanak, they are truly spectacular. I haven't seen a dragonfly that red yet! And that yellow swallowtail, i bet it is the Troides magellanus, i am dying to see it in the wild cause i've seen it only in butterfly houses. We have that red swallowtail too in our garden. And i agree with you they are really very difficult to photograph, you are actually lucky with your shots. Now when i don't go home on weekends, i miss the butterflies.

ShySongbird said...

What a beautiful collection Kanak! It sounds like a great place to visit with so much to see. Lovely to see the Common Picture Wing from another angle, we don't have anything like it here. The Golden Birdwing butterfly is magnificent too, a real beauty.

I don't think I would mind invasive weeds if they attracted butterflies like yours :-)

A. said...

i am always amazed by your dragonfly pictures. you really should consider publishing a book 'dragonflies of india'

EG CameraGirl said...

So many different dragonflies! They are all so beautiful.

Celeste said...

Stunning images! Each one more dramatic than the last. A fabulous post.

Yahya Samet said...

All so amazing it's impossible to pick a favorite. Who knew dragonflies came in so many (& vibrant) colors!?