Dragon copulation

As mentioned yesterday, I went in search of a new location. Quite a trek at 22 miles round trip, but I found a bridge across a stream. There appeared to be access, so I pulled over for a looksee. There were a few walkers in the distance and a guy that was overly keen to help me park my bike, this meant that he would be expecting payment later, but that's how things work here.

The walk was a flat bottomed, reasonably wide valley. The stream that cut it was split, with a branch running up each side of the valley. The stream was managed, as is normal practice, to provide irrigation for the paddies that ran up the center of the valley. The walkway was the edge of the paddies, where the mud was piled up by the farmers. It was fairly solid and reinforced with plenty of boulders, but care was needed not to twist my ankle. A few makeshift bridges of bamboo poles crisscrossed the streams for added entertainment.

The sides of the valley were steep walled and heavily vegetated. Picturesque and punctuated with the rare sound of birdsong and looked very promising from an insect blippers point of view. At the far end of the valley, about a half mile or so walk, was a column of water that fell about fifty feet into a clear pool. A few bamboo shelters for picnickers and lots of paddling kiddy blips.

Obviously an attraction for city dwellers to get a taste of fresh air, for something to do on a quiet afternoon. What particularly impressed me was that the streams had been cleared of all rubbish. The picnic area was well managed with rubbish bins and a guy patrolled the area with two sacks on a shoulder pole, keeping the place serviced and tidy. An enterprising lady had set up a stall, selling snacks, noodles and coffee.

I really wanted to photograph the fun of the kids, but there was a bit of a wet T-shirt thing going on it wouldn't have been right. Everyone wanted a photo with the big, bald, white guy though, at least a dozen photographs and a few bottom pinches, Italian men have a reputation, but nothing compared to Indonesian grannies!

It was mid afternoon and the sun was hidden behind clouds, so not the best conditions for hunting insects. First impressions were that it was very disappointing with very little other than a few dragons and plain brown butterflies, but I think I should reserve judgment until I have done a proper, early morning safari, but at the moment it does not justify the lengthy journey.

I returned to the waterfall venue and started shooting around 08:30 this morning, no point arriving any earlier as the sun was needed to wake up the insects. Like yesterday, not a great deal on display, but I did get some new damsel shots and of course this mating dragon pair was an easy winner.

One day I hope to catch the mating process in flight, but it is a difficult shot to get in focus, as you cannot predict the flight direction and focus has to be manual. I'll get it one day.

Dave