The shopping center that we visited is at that line of trees behind the lake.
What a surprise to find him at this location and I was very happy, and the reason why I regard it as rare is that I have only encountered him twice in all of my years of dragonfly photography.
I have posted about this lake before and as we were out searching for a power surge protection plug, we also popped in here, as the lake is behind a large shopping center. The power cuts here are crashing everyone's home batteries, as they do not get enough time to recharge, and the batteries are very expensive. Our sliding gate battery also gave up the ghost and we had to buy a new one. Sadly, now there was a rush to buy electrical surge protection plugs and inverters and all of the shops are out of stock.
Here are a couple of quick shots at the lake for you to enjoy.
This is the Ferruginous glider (Tramea limbata) and only the second time that I got one on camera. Rare to me as I have been taking photos of dragonflies since 2002 and this is only the second time that I could get one on camera.
A mainly Savannah species, that extends southwards from NE South Africa along the coastal plain to SW Cape; ranges across sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and to many Indian Ocean Islands, including Madagascar. First identified in Mauritius in 1835.
Source: All dragonfly information sourced from my book;
Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa. ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5
Hot at the lake in the mid morning, and napping time for the heron and the duck.
But there was also some action around the napping Heron.
Below, is a little island and you can see a Heron coming in to land. Many types of ducks, and a pair of geese were also hanging around.
Ever seen a Blacksmith Lapwing chasing a predator Kite?
At first I thought this was a slumber party, as the flamingo was slumbering, but the Red-knobbed Coot at the front and the Sandpiper at the back, were wide awake.
Oh! And we also stropped for coffee on the way back.
But we had the blues, as we couldn't find a surge protection plug.
Here below are a few blues at the coffee shop :)
This is a Navy Dropwing (Trithemis furva).
We never allow setbacks to get us down, as there is always a solution to be found. I am sure that we can source a power surge protection plug online, but I am very careful of the online offers as scammers target shoppers.
We recently had to be refunded from an online IT supplier as we paid for a new router and it never arrived. After a period of no communication, we cancelled and thankfully we were refunded. So now we are extra careful.
In any case, I hope that you have enjoyed our interlude at the lake and my description of the blues at the coffee shop.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
