My walk this week ends with another cloudy sunset. We were mostly lucky with the weather on our Autumn holiday in Scotland. Of course I took many more pictures than I have shown here this week but these are a selection of the most enjoyable ones for our surroundings during that time.
Tag Archives: Dragonflies
Love and Natural Patterns
Heading back from one of my shore walks during our holiday in Scotland I came across these two dragonfly lovers who were obliging enough to stay still while I did my best with my iPhone to get in close – I guess they were too preoccupied to bother about me. I had been taking photos of rock patterns but much as I enjoyed doing that, this opportunity was one not to be missed and made my day.
Signs, scenery and a pony in the woods
This was the view I had from Three Crosses Community Centre whilst waiting for the rest of the dragonfly hunting group I was with last week. It was very pleasant sitting in the sun with a light breeze to cool me.
Looking across the Gower Peninsula, it struck me that there were a lot of signposts. However, they did not spoil the view but rather created an interesting mix of patterns and structures through which I could see the natural beauty of the landscape.
We accept or learn to accept a lot of things in our need for order in society and the power we want to run our lives – like the millions of electricity pylons and increasing number of wind mills, sky scraper skylines and network of roads to name but a few of the interruptions to our views. We want what they bring and they do not necessarily spoil the view – it is more a matter of how you think about them.
Having said that, there should be balance in everything and we cannot afford to lose much more of our natural habitat – after all, the horses need their shade!
Dragonfly Environments
Following on from my weekend posts on the Countryside Connections dragonfly and damselfly hunt at Three Crosses community woodland, these photos are about the environment in which we found the creatures.
The pictures say almost everything about the kind of environment you are likely to find dragonflies but every time I see these wonderful creatures, I am reminded of another environment.
During my childhood in Northern Ireland we had regular visits to a cottage in the Annalong Valley of the Mourne Mountains. The riverbed of the Annalong River was pretty dry a lot of the time because the water was diverted to the Silent Valley reservoir, but it was a perfect place for dragonflies and my memories of those days, playing among the rocks and boulders of the river, are marked by the fantastic colours of the numerous dragonflies that also enjoyed that environment.
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Dragonflies and Damselflies
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Yesterday I went on a Dragonfly and Damselfly hunt organised by Swansea’s Countryside Connections Team at Three Crosses on the Gower. Unfortunately I missed the workshop in the morning and so I am not in a position to identify the particular make and model of those we saw. Perhaps others on the walk can do that for me as comments.
These creatures were incredibly difficult to photograph as they rarely stayed still for more than a split second, if that! This may be partly due to the fact that there were a number of people there as part of the group (proving the success of these events).
I did the best I could and got a range of shots at both of two sites which were new to me and which I will be visiting again for a walk and exploration for StillWalks. Today, however, I’ll concentrate on the Dragonflies.
Please click on the images to enlarge. These and others are available on the StillWalks Photography website.