At the beginning of the summer, we promised ourselves that we would take Wednesday afternoons off and go somewhere. It didn't happen. Things got in the way. We were always too busy. But after last Sunday's jaunt to a nature preserve, which we thoroughly enjoyed, we decided to make sure to have this past Wednesday afternoon free. I was going to tell you about the picnic, the pork and sweet potato pie, and the chocolate cake, but there isn't room in one post. We ended up in a magic forest. It had to have been . Where else would you walk through a field of dragonflies..? Thousands of them, flying as a cloud around you, hitting each other with a clear clacking sound. I tried to hold the camera and get a short video. It's not much, and terribly blurry. Watch it, then close your eyes and imagine, dragonflies, or fairies.
The trail lead across the field. There we entered a forest of twisted trees, limbs reaching overhead and across the path to meet their neighbors on the other side. We passed through the wood, walking in a shadowy, sun spattered tunnel.
After nearly a mile, we came out of the wood. In front of us was a huge salt pond. Beyond it, the ocean.
There was an observation deck.
Across the pond, sat an osprey on it's nest. Atop a nearby tree, sat the mate. They were too far away to photograph with the camera I had.
Let me help you.. 
guess you had to be there.
Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge. Amazing place.
Here's a link to some amazing info on dragonflies. Everything that I've read about swarms indicates that although food, mating and migration may be the answer, no one is really sure. There was a lot of food around, and the time of year is perfect for migration.
Don't you love a little mystery?
Comments
8 responses to “Walk with me Wednesday.. better late than never”
What fun! Cool video. I love dragonflies and yes they have been swarming around- huge ones about 4 inches long and heads the size of stitchmarkers and a beautiful cobalt blue! Many are dying- kind of their last hurrah of the season before their time is up. However I did find this in my goggly search:
” Why do Dragonflies sometimes appear in large swarms?
Several species of dragonfly are known to collect in large swarms. In most cases this appears to be due to very favorable feeding conditions in the area. It may also be a “courting” group with males actively searching for females. This is less likely as males are much more aggressive to each other when looking for a mate.
Some dragonflies gather in swarms before moving to a new area (like a bird migration). The reasons for this are unclear but may be due to population pressures. There are records from the US of migratory swarms.”
Thanks for sharing your magical walk with us.
You walk in the best places! The dragonflies are really cool. Lynn agrees on the feeding thing for the dragonflies.
Wow – yeah – deja vu. Another place in your world I’ve been in person. One of our favorite Sunday afternoon walks. Beautiful!
What a beautiful walk.
Thank you so much for sharing the video!!
what an amazing magical walk! thank you for sharing it
Lynn does indeed concur about the feeding part, although I’m beginning to wonder about migratory swarms, too. One of these days (Rhinebeck?) we’ll all be together somewhere magical in a dragonfly swarm – I’ll catch a few (it doesn’t hurt them; they’re tough) and we can all admire their beauty.
Wow – so nice to see a place you walk.
I’ve never seen a dragonfly swarm – how cool is that!
“Watch it, then close your eyes and imagine, dragonflies, or fairies.”
I closed my eyes and imagined fairies riding on the dragonflies…
Then I read the rest of your post, and LOVED those trees! Zigging and Zagging branches- spectacular!
Nice that you got to visit an amazing forest. Makes up for the lost summer…