I got that rare critter again today.

avatar
(Edited)

The shopping center that we visited is at that line of trees behind the lake.
096.JPG

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

024.jpg

Hot at the lake in the mid morning, and napping time for the heron and the duck.
053.JPG

But there was also some action around the napping Heron.
060.JPG

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.
062.JPG

Ever seen a Blacksmith Lapwing chasing a predator Kite?
099.JPG

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.
078.JPG

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).
052.JPG

050 (2).JPG

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.

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

photography rarities dragonflies birds lakes proofofbrain neoxian featheredfriends silverbloggers
0
0
0.000
39 comments
avatar

Seeing dragonflies through images again after a long while reminded me of how I used to knot their tails with thin cords so they will not fly away from me. I feel immensely guilty now. Also, this rekindled my desire to see a flamingo in actuality.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

The dragonflies are beautiful :) How rare is the first one???

Why is everyone wanting surge protectors now??? May I suggest that if they're for more powerful appliances you get a couple of different types? Some tend to kick off, even with only one strong appliance...

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL

This post has been manually curated by the VYB curation project

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar
(Edited)

Thank you and I need to edit that post. They are rare to me at least as in all the years of taking photos of dragonflies, it is only the second one that I got on camera. They are all over the African continent and both times now that I got them was here at the extreme southern tip of the African continent. They are erratic in appearances.

We have up to 10 hours of staggered power cuts in every day in the country and I am typing this right now in the inverters power, because the electrical power is off from 8pm until 12:30pm. This one can power the two PC's and a fan.
Have a look at https://www.dailymaverick.co.za
National Shutdown threat in protest against Eskom's rolling black outs.

Now we need another inverter to cope with 2 auto gate motors and a fridge. We don't have money to buy more.

!PIZZA !LOL !LUV

Oops, sorry, I forgot to thank you for the curation. My mind is all over the place lately because of all these damn pills that I have to take every day. Thank you again.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

No need to be sorry, I hope things get better for you soon. Between health problems and power cuts you are under a lot of stress!

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LUV

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you and a bit of worse news. I saw the specialist doctor this morning and he is happy and also not so happy. My complete blood tests flagged me as critical, as the iron reading is 3.8.
That explains my tiredness and confusion.

So I will be away for a few days for them to some advanced ultra-radio (or whatever they call it) probes in my inner intestine to find the source of my inner bleeding.

I have had a gastroscopy (swallowing a camera) and a colonoscopy recently but they could not fond the source.

Such is life here my friend.

!PIZZA !LOL !LUV

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

We like the way you play the game! !PGM
Thanks for being a supporter of The LOLZ Project.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Sent 0.1 PGM - 0.1 LVL- 1 STARBITS - 0.05 DEC - 1 SBT - 0.1 THG - 0.000001 SQM - 0.1 BUDS tokens to @lolz.pgm

remaining commands 14

BUY AND STAKE THE PGM TO SEND A LOT OF TOKENS!

The tokens that the command sends are: 0.1 PGM-0.1 LVL-0.1 THGAMING-0.05 DEC-15 SBT-1 STARBITS-[0.00000001 BTC (SWAP.BTC) only if you have 2500 PGM in stake or more ]

5000 PGM IN STAKE = 2x rewards!

image.png
Discord image.png

Support the curation account @ pgm-curator with a delegation 10 HP - 50 HP - 100 HP - 500 HP - 1000 HP

Get potential votes from @ pgm-curator by paying in PGM, here is a guide

I'm a bot, if you want a hand ask @ zottone444

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

My prayers are with you, that they find it and it's something easy to fix 😲 Do take care...

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thank you for the care and now hear this. We waited half of this day for a mail to tell us where to go and at what time. Nothing, so I asked my wife to phone our doctor's rooms. The appointment has not been made, as the lady that was supposed to do it is away on leave. So now we have to wait again.
I believe that there is a reason for everything and so let's see what happens.

!PIZZA !LOL !LUV

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

That does sound strange! I hope things get better for you soon...

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Good news my friend. I now have a confirmed booking for the test to take place on Monday.
So things are looking up.

!PIZZA !LOL !LUV

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

My prayers are with you for good results!

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL !PIMP

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Congratulations @papilloncharity! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

You have been a buzzy bee and published a post every day of the week.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Check out our last posts:

LEO Power Up Day - January 15, 2023
HiveBuzz supports meetups of the Hive Austrian Community in Graz
The Hive Gamification Proposal Renewal
0
0
0.000
Reply