Nature Notes/Dragonflies

 Although I photograph a whole lot of dragonflies every summer, I have never seen or photographed dragonfly exuvia. Below is the photo that I clicked yesterday. At first glance I thought it was an insect I hadn't seen before. It was only after I compared Google images that I knew it was dragonfly exuvia. It was on the underside of an anthurium leaf.

And here's what I found a few days ago on one of my plants. The blue/green combination of colours was most striking.

And a similar one that I found this morning on my cucumber trellis. i couldn't capture that iridescence in today's cloudy rainy weather.


For more posts in the world of nature, visit the home of Nature Notes.

Nature Notes/Petals & Wings

After a lull, the four o'clock flowers have started blooming again. How fascinating it is to see Mother Nature's patterns on the petals. Every bloom of the same plant with a different signature style!!

I took this photo yesterday as I was watering my potted plants. It landed on a palm leaf but took off before I could get another shot. Certainly not the ones that I usually photograph, this one appeared to be longer than other dragonflies.

The usual ones are about this length. This was also photographed near the same spot a few months ago.

The white-breasted water hen is one bird that I see everyday. Here it is foraging in a puddle created by one of the sudden showers that we have pretty often. 


Visit the home of Nature Notes to see more posts on what's happening in the world of nature. This is a meme that I love to participate in as I'm constantly looking for anything new (to me), unique, and beautiful in my surroundings. And in other bloggers' posts as well.

Indian Marsh Mongoose& Other Creatures

 

I have often mentioned the marshy plot of land near our house. With its thick growth of aquatic plants,it's home to some animals and feeding ground to many. In summer, swarms of dragonflies hover above the colacasia that grows to more than a little over six feet. Then the bee-eaters come and feast on them. It's a joy to watch so many of these winged creatures. With all the insects and the worms that must be available thoughout the year, the regular birds that we see in the vicinity are the sparrows, shrikes, Indian myna, Asian pied starlings, the omnipresent crows, spotted doves, chestnut-tailed starlings, tree kingfisher, tailor birds,egrets who feed in winter, Oriental magpie robins, and the white-breasted water hen. At night you hear the constant croaking of frogs and the sight of the fireflies look like we're looking down at a suspended sky filled with hundreds of shining stars!

Aquatic plant with clusters of white blooms often visited by butterflies

As I type this, the noise of the earth-mover machine drowns almost every sound. More than half of the wetland has been filled up with tons of soil and now the levelling of the soil is being done. A small area has been left untouched so far. But I don't think it's going to remain that way for long. Yesterday I saw this mongoose from my son's bedroom window. Seeing a mongoose in its habitat reaffirmed the fact that the wetland creatures were at their most vulnerable. All the years we have lived here, we knew this area was home to the water or marsh mongoose but they are so fast we never really see them still. In fact I have never been able to get a decent photograph of them. It's only because there isn't much area left for them to run or hide that I can see them from my house across the road. 

Looking up online about the Indian marsh mongoose/Herpestes palustris, here's what I found. That they live near large but shallow water bodies that are fully or partially covered by a thick growth of aquatic plants. They live in burrows mainly along the slopes of the water bodies. They are diurnal and follow a particular route for foraging. They feed on fish and aquatic snails. Before sunset they return to their burrows. The mating season is March and there are generally two or three cubs in a litter. Below is a look at some other lives within the vicinity of this wetland.

Flocks of sparrows feed on insects (although I only got three of them here). Looks like afternoons are their favourite time of the day to feed here.

A typical summer sight would be bee-eaters catching their prey......

...and dragons and damsels embellishing most leaves or stems with Mother Nature's colours. I'll have to wait and see how much of change 'development' will bring to my nature notes. The effects of the death of a wetland will surely be evident in the coming years.


I'm linking up to Michelle's Nature Notes.

Nature Notes/Stray Dragonfly

The area I live in  has plenty of dragonflies in summer but once it starts to get cooler, they are rarely seen. The other day while I was in the kitchen I heard the unmistakable whirring of dragonfly wings from the tiny ledge near the ventilator. Most probably it must have been stuck in a piece of cobweb and couldn't fly away. When I rescued it, it seemed fine so I took it outside and placed it on this cluster of blooms. I didn't think I'd be successful but it stayed there for a few minutes even after I had clicked this picture. I'd have taken more shots but a pair of flycatchers landed on the coconut tree....


Linking up to Michelle's Nature Notes.

Weekend Reflections/Blue And Green Dragonfly

Today's reflection photo is from a dragonfly I found flying inside the house at night. It fell a few times so I gently placed it on an artificial plant (below). Then I took it outside and placed in on the mussaenda plant. I was amazed at the colours! The frontal view in the second picture which was incidentally taken first, showed no indication of blue and green dragonfly resplendence! Please click on the picture to see the details.

To see more posts on Weekend Reflections, head over to James @ http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com/