Dragonflies

This is one of the many dragonflies I saw while I was in Thailand last fall.

I went to a Qatar Natural History Group meeting last October where a professor came and spoke to everyone about the dragonflies and damselflies of Qatar. I've never been "into" bugs before, but during this meeting I felt a spark. I little one. I took detailed notes. I even wrote down all the places I could go to search for these mysterious creatures. I've seen a dragonfly before. I've seen them here, there, and everywhere throughout my life! But I've never really paid much attention to them. I never once pondered the colors they were, whether they were migratory, how they mate, how they grow, or what they eat. Now, I think about those things pretty often. Especially when I see a dragonfly. It doesn't happen very often in Qatar. There are 12 species of dragonfly/damselflies here. Ever since the meeting I've been keeping my eyes open. I've seen them at our clubhouse pool a few times, skimming the water, which surprised me. Then I saw them a few days ago when I took my kids to the Sheikh Faisal museum forest. In their irrigation water storage tank, there were several kinds speeding by. I was only able to get photos of one kind. The kids kept scaring them off. What do you expect? They aren't as interested as I am yet.

The one above is a very distant shot. Sorry. I was not prepared to see dragonflies just outside of Sealine Resort. We were on our way to go dune bashing. I hadn't expected this wonderful surprise. There were loads of them. They were all a greenish color and I wondered why they were so abundant there because they are only supposed to live near fresh water. I guess I'm not familiar enough with that area.

So, I'm pretty excited to go back to the US in a few weeks. I'm going to go dragonfly hunting as soon as I get off the plane. There are some nice nature preserve areas just outside San Francisco International Airport. So, to keep ourselves awake for the remainder of the day, I am dragging my whole family on this hunt whether they like it or not. Even my mother in law. I'd better remind her to wear her walking shoes.