{"id":12497,"date":"2020-07-19T08:56:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T20:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=12497"},"modified":"2021-01-12T14:40:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T01:40:27","slug":"okareka-dragonflies-as-trigger-for-a-meandering-ramble-into-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/12497","title":{"rendered":"Okareka Dragonflies as Trigger for a Meandering Ramble into the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"photo
Pair of Sentry Dragonflies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In last weeks post on Little Black Shags<\/a>, I mentioned having got a completely different image on that trip to Lake Okareka that deserved a post of its own. While watching the birds I noticed a pair of clasped Sentry Dragonflies fly past. As usual I tried to photograph them in flight but with out success. They settled on a nearby reed clump just as some lovely warm low light broke through and I managed to move a little distance to get a reasonable composition with my 500mm lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dragonflies are common in late summer and I have spent quite a bit of frustrating time trying to get reasonable flight photos. Some individuals will have regular spots that they hover which makes this a bit easier but they tend to move on a circuit quite rapidly and the busy backgrounds make grabbing focus quickly difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sentry
Sentry Dragonfly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Zealand<\/a><\/strong> by Milen Marinov and Mike Ashbee<\/a> is an excellent recently published resource on the biology and identification of our local Odonata. Mike\u2019s photography as always is stunning and sets a high bar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"photo
Sentry Dragonfly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Sentry Dragonfly in the above image seems to have lost the tips of its wings. I have a number of images of this individual and all show worn wing tips on both sides. This is likely to just be age related wear and tear rather than predation injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Lancer Dragonfly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I have recently made contact with a good school friend from an increasingly distant past and found we share an interest in nature photography. My main obsession is birds and Alan has an excellent body of work on Odonata and Hymenoptera<\/a> of South Africa with published images including in A Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This next image is the closest I have that reflects the intersection of these threads of my life. A Dragonfly photographed at a waterhole in Limpopo Province in 2011 while sitting watching for birds on a farm my brother-in-law owned. I visited this place regularly over some years and made many happy memories and images there. As with life things pass and these are now experiences stored in memory with people and place now gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Yellow and Blue<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The image instantly takes me back to the heat and light of the day, reigniting the memories and triggering thoughts of a flight of Red-billed Oxpeckers that visited the waterhole like clockwork for their afternoon drink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Flight of Red-billed Oxpeckers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Part of what makes photography so addictive for me is the instant channel it provides to access past experiences and associated emotions. Physically dislocated from the heat and dust of childhood but feeling more at home than I ever did as child I have longings for southern places of wind and cold. My happy places jostle for position in my head which wanders free and far. A virtual world based on real experiences. Experiences that created the memories that that decorate my internal home, my bright cave beneath my hat – The Bright Cave Under the Hat – Lance Morrow<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walls of my physical home, office and operating room are littered with images that each transport me directly to sites of happy memories made. Almost like icons on a screen, each click opening a new virtual world. Magic portals to the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equipment used;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Okareka perched Dragonflies – Nikon D850 with Nikon 500mm f5.6PF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okareka Dragonflies in flight – Nikon D500 with Nikon 300mm f4PF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African Dragonfly and Red-billed Oxpeckers – Nikon D3s and 500mm f4VR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okareka Dragonflies as Trigger for a Meandering Ramble into the Past. Culminating in the importance of photography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Okareka Dragonflies as Trigger for a Meandering Ramble into the Past. 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One of our plans was for an Okareka photowalk as it is one of my favourite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied Stilt chick","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PiedStiltChick-D5C_3582-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PiedStiltChick-D5C_3582-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PiedStiltChick-D5C_3582-web.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PiedStiltChick-D5C_3582-web.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9305,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/9305","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":1},"title":"Okareka update September 2018","author":"tony","date":"September 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we take a brief break from the South Island for an Okareka update September 2018. The flooding that I mentioned in my last Okareka update has meant that I haven't visited my favourite local spot as much as usual. \u00a0Scouting locations to take visiting bird photographer, Samuel Bloch, \u00a0has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied Stilt\/Poaka feeding in typical Okareka sunset light reflecting from the hills behind","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PiedStilt-DSC_1409-Edit-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PiedStilt-DSC_1409-Edit-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PiedStilt-DSC_1409-Edit-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PiedStilt-DSC_1409-Edit-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8972,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/8972","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":2},"title":"Okareka update","author":"tony","date":"April 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Lake Okareka is one of my favourite local bird photography destinations. It is a short drive up the road and I can be there photographing within minutes of leaving home. Unfortunately I have not been too often in the past year. This has largely been due to abnormally high water\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied Stilts resting in sweet Okareka light","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/PiedStilts_DSC0518-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/PiedStilts_DSC0518-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/PiedStilts_DSC0518-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/PiedStilts_DSC0518-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18365,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/18365","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":3},"title":"Okareka Magic","author":"tony","date":"August 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Okareka Magic - Lake Okareka never disappoints","rel":"","context":"In "Bird Photography"","block_context":{"text":"Bird Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/bird-photography"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fantail-20240807-NZ9_9134-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fantail-20240807-NZ9_9134-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fantail-20240807-NZ9_9134-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fantail-20240807-NZ9_9134-NEF-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8094,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/8094","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":4},"title":"Okareka revisited","author":"tony","date":"July 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a while since I visited Lake Okareka. I've fallen into the trap of not going because it's too easy so I wait until things seem perfect and put if off to another day if anything else seems to have priority. The best stimulus for a trip is having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/BlackSwan_DSC7549-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/BlackSwan_DSC7549-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/BlackSwan_DSC7549-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/BlackSwan_DSC7549-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12481,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/12481","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":5},"title":"Little Black Shags at Okareka","author":"tony","date":"July 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing Little Black Shags at Lake Okareka","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LittleBlackShags-D85_2373-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LittleBlackShags-D85_2373-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LittleBlackShags-D85_2373-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/LittleBlackShags-D85_2373-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}