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Dragons and damsels of our garden |
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Four-winged hunters
We've seen lots of dragonflies (and a few damselflies) in our garden this year. They're grand! Some
of them seem to never sit still, forever zigzagging the outline of their
territory. Others are more accommodating to my camera - their pictures can
be found on this page.
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This twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella) kept returning to
perch atop the little bean teepee we built in Max's garden.
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I've been told this is an immature male widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa). He
stuck around for a while, long enough for a photo op.
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Several blue dashers were flitting around the pond today, but one sat down
for a portrait (Pachydiplax longipennis). The photo below is a different
one on a different day, using the same iris as a perch.
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This female Eastern pond hawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) stopped by
one morning to warm herself on our flat-rock pathway. She didn't stay long,
and I haven't seen her or her kin near our pond.
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When I first spotted this female Eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera) flitting
about our cutting garden, I thought it was a spreadwing damselfly - it was
smaller than other common dragonflies in our garden. But closer up, it was
clearly a dragon. The way the light hits the wings in this photo, you can't
discern the patterning - if I see her again, I'll try to get a top view shot.
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Damsels
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This side-eyed beauty was hovering ever so delicately around the side garden in
late August. The first damselfly I've been able to capture on digifilm, I
believe it is an orange bluet damselfly (Enallagma signatum), although
it may also be an immature Eastern forktail (Ischnura verticalis).
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Another bluet pond damsel, this is a female, either a marsh bluet (Enallagma ebrium)
or Hagen's bluet (Enallagma hageni). She was hovering all around our
fading tomato plants in early September.
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I had this trio of different damselflies dancing near our pond one day in
early June - a gray one, a black one with bright blue tip, and an orange
one. Turns out, they're all the same species: Ischnura verticalis.
The dull one is the female, the blue-tip the male, and the orange a
youngster. They wouldn't pose for a family photo...
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It's been a good week for damsel spottings. This is fragile forktail (Ischnura
posita); like the ones above, they enjoy the pond environment, especially
the large clump of blue flag.
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Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Yolanda | Aug 02, 2005 | Beautiful webpage, beautiful photos of such beautiful creatures |
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Last modified:
June 04, 2006
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