Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2023 11:16:53 GMT
Yesterday, I stopped a small place off the trail, a place I like to stop at.
It's an Ecological Diverse place. I'm including a photo of it below.
In the middle, it is mostly desolate, with just a few plants trying to survive there. The soil is sandy and light color - devoid of nutrients for any major plant like a tree to take hold.
But on the immediate edge of the place, much diversity exists. Various plants and wild flowers exist, along with many insects such as various bees - I recall wasps and even honey bees. I have not seen many honey bees this summer - I know they are becoming more and more endangered though, from various reports.
Moving out from the diverse plants are also a diverse selection of trees. Pines, Maples, Oaks, etc... I wish I was more knowledgeable of the names of the various plants and trees, to give this area justice.
There's even a small puddle of water with water plants growing out of it.
What impressed me the most, however, was the numerous Dragonflies flying around. There must have been over a dozen at once flying around where the plants were.
I knew Dragonflies were predators, so I decided to search the net for exactly what they eat:
"Dragonflies eat other insects, such as flies, midges and mosquitoes. They will also take butterflies and even smaller dragonflies. Prey is normally caught in mid-air, with the dragonfly using its long legs to catch its quarry. the food will then be carried to a perch where it is eaten."
The various number of plants on the edge attracted many types of insects, so I'm confident that these insects are what the Dragonflies were foraging on.
The sun was behind a cloud, so I waited about 10 or 15 minutes for it to start shining. Once it did, it felt really good, as it was a cooler day. An interesting observation I then made was that the Dragonflies, nearly all of them, left shortly after the Sun was in full shine. Perhaps that triggered them to fly a few hundred yards towards the lake - as I frequently see the Dragonflies flying over the lake.
Here is the link to the photo of the area:
Michael