Black-tailed Skimmers at lunchtime
June 27th, 2010 | Written by Lucy Brzoska.Written by Lucy Brzoska
With parallel worlds evolving in the park, it’s amazing what can be happening by your elbow, unnoticed.
I’ve seen squirrels hanging upside down on the tree trunks, looking down at oblivious heads only inches away. Or Black rats bursting out of the hedge, flying straight into a litter bin, while people chat or have lunch nearby, none the wiser. And the other day it was the Black-tailed Skimmers.
A pair were trying to mate in the wide expanse of the palace forecourt, getting pestered by a lone marauding male. The couple finally found some peace and quiet on the stone balustrade that runs behind the semi circle of benches.
You could clearly see the way the male folds the darkened tip of his flexible abdomen over the head of the female, to secure her in position. Or the way the female uses four legs to hold onto her partner, while the third pair gets tucked right back, neatly out of the way.
Perhaps I disturbed them, because the Skimmers flew over to a flowering bush, next to a woman absorbed in her newspaper. The dragonflies, their green eyes like aviator goggles, held on tight, as the twig swung in the breeze.
After separating, the female rested on the ground for a while. Female Black-tailed Skimmers emerge into the world bright yellow, but with age can change colour. This one had an indeterminate grey green shimmer.
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