I seem to be on a roll of sorts today. I was out at the park and stumbled on some nifty wildlife that presented an opportunity for some decent snaps. We were at the park and while the Ape was raisin’ Hell on the jungle-gyms, I noticed more than a few critters around that to me were worthy of documenting. It started with the wife pointing out this really interesting dragonfly that happened to be near the fence. I had to chase it around a bit before it settled enough to let me get some snaps. This is the one I like the most:
As far as I can recall, I’ve never seen one that looked like this before, but it was very similar to some I saw in Japan in that it was very large (3-4″ wingspan or so), and had beautiful color and markings, particularly the wings. The G10 was perfect for this kind of shot as I held the camera 4-5″ away in macro mode w/ flash and let ‘er rip.
After the dragonfly, while leaning on the fence and thumbing through the shots I just took, I noticed two hummingbirds flying through the bush nearby feeding. Didn’t get a chance to shoot them though as they were just too fast and zipped away almost immediately. I still felt pretty honored to see them though, and was consoled even further by noticing another beautiful dragonfly that happened to stop on a nearby leaf by chance. Much smaller and more delicate than the one above, it was really striking in its simple all-black with a touch of white coloring (maybe it was Goth), and looked amazingly cool when flying. Here’s a shot of it when it first landed:
After this, we decided to take a walk in the woods to purposefully search out more interesting animals like this, but of course, we found none and eventually ended up back at the playground again. I was a bit tired from walking and such, so sat down in a covered bench to rest while the Ape played. There was a gentleman also there who pointed almost immediately to the corner bracing of the awning I was sitting under. Turns out there was a nest there with three baby birds, maybe Robins, but I have no idea. What luck! So of course I snapped some of these little guys as well:
And there you have it — in maybe 30 minutes it was a veritable local wildlife safari, all completely by chance, yet seemingly almost by design in some ways as well. As I said, life is really enjoyed in the details you notice around you, particularly when you’re least expecting to find them. It is a wonder, for sure.
