Okareka Dragonflies as Trigger for a Meandering Ramble into the Past

tony
July 19, 2020
biology / birds / Invertebrates / macro / New Zealand / opinion / South Africa

photo of a pair of Sentry Dragonflies — Pair of Sentry Dragonflies

In last weeks post on Little Black Shags, I mentioned having got a completely different image on that trip to Lake Okareka that deserved a post of its own. While watching the birds I noticed a pair of clasped Sentry Dragonflies fly past. As usual I tried to photograph them in flight but with out success. They settled on a nearby reed clump just as some lovely warm low light broke through and I managed to move a little distance to get a reasonable composition with my 500mm lens.

Dragonflies are common in late summer and I have spent quite a bit of frustrating time trying to get reasonable flight photos. Some individuals will have regular spots that they hover which makes this a bit easier but they tend to move on a circuit quite rapidly and the busy backgrounds make grabbing focus quickly difficult.

Sentry Dragonfly in flight — Sentry Dragonfly

Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Zealand by Milen Marinov and Mike Ashbee is an excellent recently published resource on the biology and identification of our local Odonata. Mike’s photography as always is stunning and sets a high bar.

photo of a Sentry Dragonfly — Sentry Dragonfly

The Sentry Dragonfly in the above image seems to have lost the tips of its wings. I have a number of images of this individual and all show worn wing tips on both sides. This is likely to just be age related wear and tear rather than predation injury.

Photo of a Lancer Dragonfly in flight — Lancer Dragonfly

I have recently made contact with a good school friend from an increasingly distant past and found we share an interest in nature photography. My main obsession is birds and Alan has an excellent body of work on Odonata and Hymenoptera of South Africa with published images including in A Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa.

This next image is the closest I have that reflects the intersection of these threads of my life. A Dragonfly photographed at a waterhole in Limpopo Province in 2011 while sitting watching for birds on a farm my brother-in-law owned. I visited this place regularly over some years and made many happy memories and images there. As with life things pass and these are now experiences stored in memory with people and place now gone.

The image instantly takes me back to the heat and light of the day, reigniting the memories and triggering thoughts of a flight of Red-billed Oxpeckers that visited the waterhole like clockwork for their afternoon drink.

Photo of a flight of Red-billed Oxpeckers — Flight of Red-billed Oxpeckers

Part of what makes photography so addictive for me is the instant channel it provides to access past experiences and associated emotions. Physically dislocated from the heat and dust of childhood but feeling more at home than I ever did as child I have longings for southern places of wind and cold. My happy places jostle for position in my head which wanders free and far. A virtual world based on real experiences. Experiences that created the memories that that decorate my internal home, my bright cave beneath my hat – The Bright Cave Under the Hat – Lance Morrow.

The walls of my physical home, office and operating room are littered with images that each transport me directly to sites of happy memories made. Almost like icons on a screen, each click opening a new virtual world. Magic portals to the past.