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Birds & beasts

Transparency – La transparence

222éé22photo_179_libelluleWe often have dragonflies in the garden but they whizz around so quickly they I can’t even attempt to photograph them. This one was sitting still on the bamboo stake used to support our tomato plants today so I ran off to get my iPhone. I can only assume it was on its last legs so to speak.
Nous avons souvent des libellules dans le jardin mais elles sont tellement rapides que je n’essaie même pas de les photographier. Celle-ci se tenait tranquille sur le bambou qu’on utilise pour soutenir nos tomates aujourd’hui alors je suis partie chercher mon iPhone. Je pense qu”elle devait être à bout de souffle si j’ose dire.

8 replies on “Transparency – La transparence”

A very clear shot and also beautifully posed to display the colours etc
Perhaps it was just being a ‘show pony’ …..but sadly it probably was showing off for the last time.
So glad it was for someone who appreciated it!

She could be just resting, not totally conked out. She’s obviously a fair age because she’s quite rusty on the abdomen, which would come with age, and she’s had a chunk taken out of her right hind wing by a bird, but otherwise she seems in good condition. I say she because I think she’s female. Female dragonflies are less visible, more discreet than males. She isn’t sitting there to warm up (I can tell that by the position of her abdomen) and she isn’t sitting on the tip of a cane like a male would to survey and control his territory. I think she’s just resting a bit. Dragonflies tend to hunt and rest in cycles of about 20 minutes. She might have caught something and be eating it (I can’t see what her front legs are doing). Anyway, she is a Darter Sympetrum sp, I would guess a Ruddy Darter S. sanguineum. Darters are not easy to tell apart, especially the females.

Thank you for all the information Susan. I was hoping you would identify her for me. When I came back with the iphone, she flew away just a few inches then came back which I didn’t explain in the post but which made me think she had a problem.

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