Hidden life in the Cape Gooseberry bush.

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A friend on Hive said there must be much hidden life in our garden.
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A pair of dragonflies in the gooseberry bush doing what they were born to do.

She also said that they might need our help, but I don't think so:)

We help in the garden where our help is needed as shown in a recent post that you can see HERE
So I decided to show you some of our garden's hidden life. Prepare yourself for a beautiful 2 part picture story and this is part 1.
I dedicated part 1 solely to the dragonflies and in part 2 I will show you some other hidden beauties with a humorous twist in the tail as usual.
So come and see.

For those that do not know Cape gooseberries.
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All that I can find about the Elusive Skimmer dragonflies (Orthetrum rubens) online is that they are not only scarce, but also an endangered species due to the loss of their natural habitat.
They are restricted to the Cape Fold mountains that our mountain range is a part of.
According to our book on insects, they are endemic to the Southern Cape and not much is known about them.
And just imagine our luck as we have them right here in our garden in the gooseberry bush.
Source

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Then of course it was the resting period after mating, or is that the recovery period from a high :)
Have a careful look if you can see them in the bush below.
Tip, bottom diagonal branch.
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So yes, like I said, I very much doubt that they needed our help and it might even have been resented had we offered it :)
In part 2 that I will post on Thursday, as I am back at only posting one post per day, I will show you some other residents in the same gooseberry bush and the one is a thief.
Until then I hope that you have enjoyed part 1 and we are glad to present it to you.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity

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45 comments
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Thanks for the information about this little life ofthis lite guy and keep it up as well as am also looking forward more from you boss

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I have seen many of your posts about nature insects, I think you liked macro photography before, I am interested in some of your opinions there. :)

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Thank you for the interest and no, I only do macro photography on occasion.
My first love is the zoom shots.

!BEER

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Good post about insects
Thank you for Sharing

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Thank you and I have been sharing for 4 years now on hive.
Started with nothing and built myself up.
You can do the same.

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Gooseberries are simply the best, what a treat having a bush in the garden.

Dragonflies I would definitely rely on your knowledge to identify, always see them seldom get to photograph, knowing which species it is no so great!

Have a wonderful day!

!LUV
!BEER
!WINEX

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Can you believe that the gooseberry bush is till in it's original pot?
I moved it around in the garden every few weeks to find the spot where it is happy and now it is self seeding all around it.

I think you know that for the first year after I got a Powershot 450, I only focused on dragonflies as per the advice of a friend. So yes, I have a bit of a history with dragonflies Lady Joan.

Hope that your day was also good and sleep well tonight.

!LUV
!BEER
!WINEX
!LOLZ (I kept the last one for you)

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I threw seed into the garden one year and had a bush for the next couple of years, not the right conditions it did not seed itself and only a few delicious fruits from it, Oh well was worth a try.

We have had quite a few this year with all the rain, identify them, no I will leave that to you 😁

Go to bed later to hopefully shorten length of time, fan direct flow over me all night on top of the bed not even a sheet covering it has been like swimming around a bath tub again.

!LUV
!LOLZ
!BEER

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Maybe you can also try one in a big pot? What I know is that they don't like direct sunlight here and it grows well in dappled shade.

So great to see them all over the place again and there is still a few rare species that I don't have. Amazing how all of the provinces have different species in them.

Yes we also got to bed after 12, but like last night the lack of sleep catches one. I all of a sudden I had a sore throat and was coughing repeatedly. Fell asleep in the heat at around 3:30am and up again at 7am.
I did install an aircon in the bedroom, but we can only use it in 30 minute spans, as when one uses it for an hour, our monthly electricity bill rockets up.
And now they want a 20% increase in the electricity prices. Madness, as why don't they get the millions of non payers to start paying.

A sad litany of bad management with a toxic political mix.

!LUV
!LOLZ
!BEER

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Air conditioning I cannot sleep under, open all the windows and have a fan on, have a High Velocity Floor Fan on an upturned flower pot/box in the corner directly over the bed, it works!

Extremely hot days use air conditioner for about half an hour before going to bed to cool the room down, floor fan lasts a lot longer than the pedestal fan too, running costs a lot lower.

Living between a rock and a bad place one makes plans to escape when able, so have a good day and if possible make it better 😄

!LUV
!BEER
!PIZZA

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That floor fan sounds interesting and maybe you can send me a picture, or a description of it?

We also cool the room with the aircon and when Marian sees that I am busy flushing in my sleep, as she listens to my breathing and when it sounds like panting, she turns the aircon on for 30 minutes.

Nothing that one can make better in this heatwave and best is to stay indoors 😉

!LUV
!LOLZ
!BEER
!PIZZA

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Google the words I input into previous comment and TakeALot, Makro etc., all carry these which I have found more reliable.

Check where the switch is situated for convenience, one room has it on a dressing table, the kitchen above the glass unit to blow all day assisting fridge circulating air this one is about 18 years old, AEG.

Cool down it only lasts a couple of months they say 😂

!BEER

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Ordered a fan today and will get it next week my friend.
I am now making mosquito screens for the windows so that we can open the windows at night.
Hahaha, yes only 5 and a half or 6 months like last year. April things are supposed to start cooling down, but last year it was still hot in May.

!BEER
!PIZZA

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Some amazing close up shots, they look like they have jetpacks on their backs, and I am sure they are good for your gooseberries too!

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A good way to describe it as they fly around as fast as jets.
Yes, they keep the bush free of flying mites and other pests.

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Cool dragonflies. I sense a theme here. Everything in nature likes to mate in front of you! Guess you give off the vibe of love or something. 😆 lol.

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Now that you mention it, I think that you are right as I have caught many with their pants down.
Maybe Mother nature is sending me messages as I know that she is in love with me 🤣 !LOLZ

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Yum! Cape gooseberries remind me of my grandfather's garden. He had all sorts of things growing in it, and I was particularly fond of the cape gooseberries, and the mulberry tree. He could grow almost anything in our garden, even stuff that didn't normally like our milder weather here in Auckland, New Zealand, such as bananas and figs.

Your photos of the dragonflies are stunning, such detail with the macro photography. You must've been very patient, as I know that the dragonflies around here wouldn't often wait to pose for a photo – they like to zig, zag, and dash off somewhere quickly.

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Wow, so you had Cape gooseberries in NZ. I thought that it was only available here in the Cape, but it makes sense as many Saffers have emigrated to NZ and Aus.
Yes, dragonflies should have been named waitingflies, as they normally take a lot of time to get.

But I was lucky, as my first year of owning a camera was spent on getting dragonflies. A friend who is a qualified photographer told me that if I could get dragonflies on camera then all else would be easy to get. He was right of course.

Have some !PIZZA

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"I thought that it was only available here in the Cape, but it makes sense as many Saffers have emigrated to NZ and Aus."

My maternal grandfather was born in Nairobi, Kenya. 😉

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Ah, so you have some African blood in you. Always a good thing 😊

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Yes, I'm a real mixture. My father was Hungarian, my mother British, but her line is descended from French aristocracy who fled to Africa during the revolution. Apparently the French connection also intermingled with the Greek bloodline further back, too. My grandfather spoke some Swahili at home when I was young. But then he was a Biblical linguist and scholar, so that wasn't surprising, haha.

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Oh yes you are a pedigree breed !LOLZ
Mind you I am also a mix of nations and I have a strange accent that everyone remarks on. Even I don't know where it comes from.
It seems that most of the early migrants had some form of Biblical experiences.
One example is David Livingston that did great things in Africa.

!BEER

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I think the couple are getting along just fine on their own... Perhaps the post should be tagged NSFW 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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