Here Be Dragonflies
Earlier this year I started to pay more attention to the dragonflies. Every season I saw dozens and various subspecies and so, since the late Winter, I decided to focus on them.
Most of the time is quiet enough to hear them flying, which is amazing in itself. I’ve been sitting very close to the shore – or standing in the lake – and watching them. They are very agile hunters and eat mosquitoes, but in their larvae phase they eat aquatic insects, small fish, and tadpoles. In turn, when adults, they can be eaten by frogs, fish and even birds, like the kingfisher.
I’ve noticed how they tend to rest on the branches of the bushes and plants that are touching the shore. They slightly tuck their wings. When awake and moving with speed, they sound like a short electricity burst effect, a vigorous ‘ZAP’, which you can listen to in some moments of this recording.
I placed my microphones on dry algae, dry as hard paper, as close to the water as possible: there are Water striders (Gerridae), common frogs, marsh frogs, mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), hundreds of very small fish and barn swallows (HHirundo rustica) touching the surface slightly. The colourful bee-eaters (Meropidae) once in a while are clearly heard, despite flying so high.