The Jewel at the End of the World

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Went to the lake to get this picture. At this time of year the tracks down to the shore are about 30cm wide and you walk through a tunnel created by 3 meter tall grass and plants on both sides. At the end is always a sheltered fishing spot with nobody around in the middle of the week. These are the only places where I am guaranteed to find a large variety of dragonflies I can photograph close up. My favorite place in the summer. Though with the mozzies out in force I’m usually weak with loss of blood by the time I stagger out!  This one though was worth all the sweat, toil and loss of my vital bodily fluids ;)

Like trekking through a jungle!

Dragon Play

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The temperatures here have suddenly soared with the sultry heat reaching the mid thirties and in some places looking like it might breach 40C in the next few days. This means the dragons have come out to play. I've seen several species around that I haven't caught sight of in several years, including the beautiful creature above known here in Japan as a cho tonbo. Roughly translated as a butterfly dragon. Strangely, they're also a lot easier to capture on film this year. Usually it takes a lot of patience to wait for them to land, but on my expedition of a couple of days ago both the cho tonbo and the yellow dragonfly below kept coming back to the same perch in the grass near the river. This was great for me as I got some good shots, and unfortunately also good for the mosquitoes that got to feast on all my exposed parts at will :(

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