Dragonfly

With the sun finally making an appearance today, I found this guy sunning himself on one of the brick pavers which make up a path in my garden. Officially he is called a Common Whitetail. It was not easy catching him. I felt like Elmer Fudd creeping up on it, "Be very quiet, I'm hunting dragonflies." As I would get closer it would fly to the next step on the path. Finally, I "caught" him. It's amazing to watch them, you can actually see the entire body contracting as it breathes. We have a real variety of them in the yard and I hope to "capture" more of them as the summer goes on.

This second dragonfly is the female Common Whitetail. Read the information at the above link to learn what the differences are between it and another similar looking dragonfly. I was able to "capture" this one in the back yard. Living so close to water (swamp in the woods behind our house), provides a wonderful breeding ground for these insects. Unfortunately, it also is a great breeding ground for the dreaded mosquito. We will be having a bummer crop of those this year due to all the rain our region has experienced in the last two months (over 22 inches for May/June when the average is usually 6 inches). Can't go out without spraying oneself with OFF or Cutters, otherwise the pests will carry you off.