Red-tailed Pennant and Band-winged Dragonlet on a Tropical Royalblue Waterlily
The petals held their colour against the sun—violet-blue, edges smooth and unfrayed, each one tilting slightly upward as if to keep the light. Around the yellow centre, stamens stood in a tight circle, the air above them carrying the faint scent of warm water and plant growth. Beneath the surface, the lily’s stem sank into the shallow silt of the metal pond, where a few small leaves floated close to the rim.
Tropical Royalblue Waterlily at Bequia Heritage Museum · Thursday 15 May 2025
Apple iPhone 16 Pro · ISO 64 · 1/1500 sec
iPhone 16 Pro back triple camera 6.765mm f/1.78 · 6.76 mm · f/1.8
Bhavna and I had wandered into this corner of the Bequia Heritage Museum grounds without hurry. The day before we would return to Kingstown, the island’s pace seemed to have slowed further, the sea breeze reaching only faintly into this sheltered spot. The metal pond stood apart from the larger gardens, resting on a patch of ground edged by shade. Its stillness was complete until the first dragonfly came.
Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata) on Tropical Royalblue Waterlily · Thursday 15 May 2025
FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 2500 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 539 mm · f/8.0
The first to arrive was the Red-tailed Pennant—its abdomen bright crimson, eyes deep brown with a trace of gold in the sun. It held its wings open when it landed, each one marked with a fine lattice of veins, the light catching in the transparent panes. The perch was brief; in an instant it lifted, circled, and settled again on the rim of the lily’s central disc. A predator of small insects, it would have found more than enough here—mosquitoes skimming the surface, midges drifting just above the water. Even so, it seemed to pause more than hunt, each rest only long enough for me to take in the detail of its markings.
Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata) on Tropical Royalblue Waterlily · Thursday 15 May 2025
FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1600 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 327.6 mm · f/7.1
The Band-winged Dragonlet appeared next. Smaller, darker, with the smoky tint that gives it its name, it moved with the same measured precision, wings twitching as it shifted position. Its banded hindwings caught the sun in sudden flashes before the angle changed and they became almost opaque. For a moment, both dragonflies shared the bloom, their paths crossing in a slow dance that belonged entirely to this small circle of water and petals.
Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata) on Tropical Royalblue Waterlily · Thursday 15 May 2025
FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1600 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 502 mm · f/7.1
Around us, the rest of the museum grounds lay quiet. The water’s surface, disturbed only by the occasional dip of an insect or the ripple from a dragonfly’s take-off, returned to stillness each time.
Tropical Royalblue Waterlilies thrive in warm, sunlit shallows like this. Their flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon, each bloom lasting only a few days. The colour shifts slightly with the light—richer in full sun, softer in shade. Beneath the water, the plant’s roots and stems offer shelter for small aquatic creatures, while its flowers draw pollinators, including beetles and bees, with both nectar and warmth.
Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata) on Tropical Royalblue Waterlily · Thursday 15 May 2025
FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 3200 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 502 mm · f/7.1
I watched the Red-tailed Pennant return again and again, each visit brief but certain. The Band-winged Dragonlet seemed more restless, circling wider before coming back to the lily. Neither stayed long enough to claim the space, yet both returned as if bound by some shared rhythm. Bhavna stood beside me, leaning in to follow their movements.
The air above the pond felt suspended. I could hear the faint hum of life in the garden beyond—a distant bird call, the soft whisper of pink trumpet tree leaves in the wind—but here, at the water’s edge, the sound was mostly the absence of sound. The dragonflies rose and fell in the frame, each departure leaving the flower briefly alone before the next arrival.
When we finally left, I imagine the petals still held the same light, the water still mirrored the sky, the lily opening again tomorrow as we boarded the ferry for Kingstown.
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Insects Travel Band-winged Dragonlet Bequia Bequia Heritage Museum Caribbean Wildlife Dragonflies Friendship Grenadines Lesser Antilles Red-tailed Pennant Saint Hilaire Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Tropical Flowers Tropical Royalblue Waterlily Windward Islands
