My Favorite Capture (re-post from 2011)

                                      

I was in the garden when I saw a puzzling something zig-zag past. When the something landed, I saw that it was a dragonfly that had captured a butterfly . . . and was proceeding to eat it.

I have a fondness for dragonflies -- they eat mosquitoes, you know -- but I'd never, ever seen one nab a butterfly.

He (or she) stayed put as I got closer and closer . . .

It was fascinating; two beautiful insects-- the dragon fly, a sinister high-tech helicopter, the butterfly, a hapless damsel. .

  Exquisite colors and patterns caught up in a macabre dance of death.

In Praise of Dragonflies

 

Dragonflies

                                                              

The photo above is an old one-- I blogged about it HERE.    I took it in the garden a long time back. I'll never duplicate that luck, but I continue to be fascinated by dragonflies and spent some time by the goldfish pool trying to get some close ups.

                                                       

This one, with the semaphore wings is, I think, a young White Tailed Dragonfly. The tail is all white on an adult.

And this metallic beauty is a Blue Dragonfly. I'm not sure about the one below . . .

I welcome more information on these critters. 

                                                                         

A Garden Capture

I was in the garden when I saw a puzzling something zig-zag past, closely followed by a hummingbird.  When the something landed, I saw that it was a dragonfly that had captured a butterfly . . . and was proceeding to eat it.

I have a fondness for dragonflies -- they eat mosquitoes, you know -- but I'd never, ever seen one nab a butterfly.

He (or she) stayed put as I got closer and closer . . .

It was fascinating; two beautiful insects . . . The dragon fly, a sinister high-tech helicopter, the butterfly, a hapless damsel . . .

  Exquisite colors and patterns caught up in macabre dance of death.