Blue tutubi

[zyzyly]

I guess this is the day I posted a lot.

I am going back to work tomorrow--night shift--for a couple of months, and I'm trying to squeeze in a few final adventures. It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but I took my chances and went out to the Consumnes River nature preserve, one of my favorite places to hike around and sit by the river. The weather turned out to be lovely, and I was glad I went.

There are all sorts of migratory waterfowl this time of year--big geese and such. I didn't see any during most of my hike, but as I was leaving I came across a field just full of them. I sat and watched them for a while and took some pictures. I know next to nothing about nature photography, but it was fun to try and capture them in flight. I'll keep going back throughout the month and see if I can get anything worth posting.

Tutubi is what they call the dragonfly in the Philippines. It is my favorite Filipino word. When I see a dragonfly, I don't think of it as a dragonfly any more--I think of it as a tutubi.

Comments

[pinkroo.livejournal.com]

I love Kate Bush--and I like your new look a lot.

That tutubi doesn't even look real.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

Kate Bush is coming out with a new album any day now--her first in something like 12 years. I can't wait.

It almost didn't look real to me either, but then it flew off right after this frame.

[pinkroo.livejournal.com]

oh--I can't wait, either! Thanks for telling me!

[waning-estrogen.livejournal.com]

they were that size in my back yard all summer long, but more green ones than blue. sometimes with my old eyes, I'd mistake them for hummingbirds darting around, except when they got closer, they didn't have the same sound.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

It's certainly the time of year for migratory birds at Cosumnes (I miss that place), and also farther down in the delta. I used to live near Sacramento City College, which seemed to be a major flight path for snow geese and sometimes sandhill cranes. If you get a chance, this winter, head down onto Staten Island (near Locke) and find the cranes. December or January should do it. They're magical.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

I went past Staten Island yesterday on my way home from SF. I took the back road.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I lived right off Freeport, so that's my old street -- farther down. :)

(My favorite thing about that street is the Freeport Bakery, after the wood ducks in Land Park, and one great teacher at SCC.)

[myasma.livejournal.com]

Who was the teacher at SCC?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

There were two great teachers, Al Kwolek and Eileen Sarasohn. They were as good as, or better than, any university teacher I've had. Al has since retired.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

I had some wonderful teachers there.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

Oh--that is where I went to nursing school!

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Excellent. :) It's the best of all the city/community colleges I've attended, and that's a few. My ECE certificate/degree is from SCC. I imagine there are other great teachers there, but those were the two who shone among my teachers.

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

that is an incredible photo of the tutubi! :-)
best wishes for your return to work. xoxo

[superbbluewren.livejournal.com]

Great picture! Best wishes for the return to work.
Blessings!

One of the most unusual sights

[rawmr.livejournal.com]

I was lying on a beach , Race Point on Cape Cod, and for an hour and a half there was a procession of "Tutubi" flying slowly upwind along the waterline, single file, a couple feet apart. I don't know if they were eventually circleing around and retracing the course, or it was just thousands of them, but the line stretched both directions as far as I could see. They were gigantic ones too, all of them, and of a colorless dark grey.

I realy dig Tutubi. I have watched them race, alone and with eachother, for long stretches of time, taking only short breathers, reaching maddening speeds by taking advantage of turbulent air currents, and banging unbelievable square-edge turns.

[niyabinghi.livejournal.com]

It's really quite magical looking :)

[tin-lizzy.livejournal.com]

thank you for posting that :)...d/f's are in my top 5 of favorite creatures on the whole planet. I mean just look at him/her/hir - what is more elegant and stunning than that?

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

Very nice shot. I like the way you've captured the colors and the transparency of the wings.

We have them by our front porch throughout the summer, but they never sit still for me when I try to approach them with my camera.

...

[apis-cerana.livejournal.com]

In Japanese, the dragonfly is called a "tonbo" -- "flying stick". Not exactly romantic, but the name is strangely cute for an insect that eats other insects for lunch. When I go visit my grandparents, I see lots of huge, emerald-green tonbo flying around during the summer. In the autumn, though,
most of the the tonbo you see are red akane-tonbo, which look like sticks of red coral. I was supposed to be named "Akane" after these akane-tonbo because I was born in the autumn...

But I digress.
That's such a gorgeous photograph. :) You're amazing.

[victory-rose.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm almost sorry we don't have dragonflies here in Iceland. Almost. ;-)

Good luck with going back to work.

[brendamom.livejournal.com]

Catching up with LJ after a few days gone. I love the blue of dragonflies. Nice photo.