This fellow was hanging around the yard for a few days before I caught up to him (sort of). A new one for me!
With an accuracy probably bordering on miniscule, I would call this a male
Common Whitetail,
Libellula lydia.
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He’s a big boy.
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Comment by iheartfilm — July 27, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
He is. I could follow his flight at quite a distance, where the white looks even whiter and all you can see of the sings are the brown splashes. Beautiful!
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Comment by montucky — July 27, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
very nice timing and nice photography.
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Comment by barcelonareporter — July 27, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
Thanks and thanks for visiting!
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 9:34 pm
He is lovely. They like to eat mosquitoes. Or so I’m told. Those transparent wings are gorgeous. Nice shot.
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Comment by Iona — July 27, 2009 @ 10:59 pm
If they eat mosquitos, I like them even more! I think all of the dragons are beautiful, this one perhaps even more so.
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Comment by montucky — July 27, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
beautiful bug nicely taken .
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Comment by barcelonareporter — July 27, 2009 @ 11:15 pm
Thanks!
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
I have a fondness for dragonflys and have been on a quest to get shots of them capturing their meals. Any shots of them eating?
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Comment by rvewong — July 28, 2009 @ 9:21 am
I’d like to get shots of that too, rvewong, but I don’t have any. THis summer I’ve seen very few dragons: maybe I should go look for a few because they are fascinating.
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
I love this dragonfly. AND I love that you think it’s so beautiful and worthy of your time and patience to capture it in your photography. I sometimes think if more people looked at the beauty in the small things around them, developed and developed an appreciation for what they have, the world wouldn’t be racing quite as furiously. And we’d all be a lot happier.
OK. Off soapbox! 🙂
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Comment by Bo Mackison — July 28, 2009 @ 9:38 am
I feel exactly the same way, Bo. There is so much beauty in the natural world that is seldom seen (or noticed), so many small life forms that live out their brief lives with no attention. We often miss a lot! Many like this dragon are incredibly intricate and beautiful when looked at closely/
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Wow! Amazing capture!
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Comment by Stacey — July 28, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Thanks Stacey.
It’s an amazing little creature.
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
good golly… i’ll never be able to scroll this page again. i’ll have nightmares about snakes now… i hate them! i will be enjoying this and your future posts though!
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Comment by kcjewel — July 28, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Sorry if I startled you, Jewel! I guess I look at snakes differently than most folks and understand quite a bit about them which make me comfortable when perhaps others wouldn’t be.
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
Great shot Terry, love the color and detail in this, is he as big as he looks in this ?
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Comment by Bernie Kasper — July 28, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
He is indeed colorful, Bernie. I don’t have any measurements, but I would guess he’s perhaps two inches from stem to stern and his body is as wide as it looks. Interesting little critter!
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Comment by montucky — July 28, 2009 @ 9:09 pm
Beautiful double-winged dragonfly. I really like its colors. Lovely capture.
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Comment by Anna Surface — July 29, 2009 @ 7:14 am
He was very pretty to watch and stood out wherever he was. I think quite pretty up close.
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Comment by montucky — July 29, 2009 @ 6:17 pm
Now this one I find very handsome, more so than the snake. I’d much rather come across this guy out in the wild.
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Comment by Candace — July 29, 2009 @ 10:39 am
Yes, the dragon is certainly less threatening. As far as I know they don’t do anything harmful and do eat a lot of the “pest” insects.
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Comment by montucky — July 29, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
A whitetail for certain. As for male vs female, I have no clue.
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Comment by scienceguy288 — July 29, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
I’m far from being an expert on dragon flies, but enjoy seeing them.
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Comment by montucky — July 29, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
Love the photos. Spent 2 years working on an NSF grant studying effects of light and/or temp on the maturation speeds of the larvae of these same dragonflies. The adults are so beautiful when compared to the larval stage. When they are ready to molt, for the final time, the larval stages climb up out of the water on a weed and split down the back..out comes the beautiful adult. Fascinating creatures.
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Comment by SuzieQ — August 1, 2009 @ 1:11 am
They really are fascinating. That study must have been interesting and fun to do!
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Comment by montucky — August 1, 2009 @ 8:00 am
Most people wouldn’t think wearing hip-waders and wading around in secluded ponds and lakes, collecting the larvae out of the mud on the bottom, any fun, but it sure beats working inside four walls. Taking a rowboat to work on a nice day can’t be beat!
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Comment by SuzieQ — August 1, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Wow! I could do a job like that and think I was getting away with something!
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Comment by montucky — August 1, 2009 @ 9:35 pm
how gorgeous! you did good getting that close. we enjoyed watching the dragonflies at the cabin we stayed at. I posted some pics of the place (not the dragonflies) on my places to go blog. you would have loved the lily pads on the pond!
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Comment by silken — August 2, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Ponds are special places, aren’t they! And I do love lily pads!
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Comment by montucky — August 2, 2009 @ 8:09 pm