Ponds are beautiful with their water features and flowers and so many walk past them exclaiming about the lovely views. But come and let's look a little more intently at the life in a pond.
My first sighting was this Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea) dragonfly.
One can look and then one can really look. Not scanning, as in cursory glances one can miss so much. This has been drilled into me a long time ago and I still practice it to this day. I think that it's a good habit to cultivate, especially for nature photographers, but also for other instances in life. I will explain one of the "other" instances in the conclusion of the post.
For now, let's see what this pond can deliver for a camera.
Then we have a Blue Lotus flower below.
And also a yellow Lotus flower.
This little one below is a Red-veined Dropwing (Trithemis arteriosa).
And here is the female Red-veined Dropwing.
And now for something else.
A supreme balancing act, as the male damselfly steadies the female while she lays her eggs.
But shame, it is hard work to stay up flying in the heat, and he came down for a quick rest, whilst still balancing the female.
A side on look at the Red-veined Dropwing.
Then we have a 0range-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi).
Right, work done and now for an afternoon siesta.
We started the Papillon Foundation as a registered non-profit organization in a crime hotspot, A city suburb that was overflowing with drug peddlers and prostitutes. There were a couple of non-profits that worked with children, and we decided to concentrate on the young school leavers, by partnering with a university and a professional computer training organization. Some +4000 students were trained by Papillon during those years.
To get to the habit of scrutinizing intently, it helped me to discern which of the students would pass the exams and those that would fail. How?
Just by looking at their body language. Simple, but true and the staff knew that I could do this, as I regularly told them which students needed extra lessons. They then knew which of the students they had to pay special attention to.
As for the ponds and the other views in nature, a deeper look has always rewarded me with many stunning sights.
I hope that you enjoyed the views at the pond.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
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