Friday, June 13, 2008

Eastern Pondhawk and Blue Dasher....

All those blue dragonflies flitting around turned out to be 2 different ones!Here they both are in one picture....Eastern Pondhawk at the bottom with blue thorax and white abdomen tips.....Blue Dasher at the top with a striped looking thorax and a black tip.

Eastern Pondhawk has very clear wings.

I liked this shot of it, too!

Here it was facing me and I could get the head and thorax area better.

Looking right at me!

This is the Blue Dasher male. Notice the amber on its wings which the Pondhawk didn't have.

I really liked this picture :-) It makes me think of an animated character in a Disney movie.

This picture on the pipe shows the slight amber on the wings, too.


This is the female Blue Dasher! There is no blue that I can see.....yellow and black striped instead.....I thought it was something totally different until I tried to find it on-line. It never landed for me to get a really good picture.......


.....however I did get to see the male and female together!
Most of these pictures will look much better if you click on them to bring them up larger for the details.

22 comments:

Profile Not Available said...

These were amazing! I especially loved the pondhawk's stare and the Disney/Pixar shot! Great job!

Mary said...

Kelly: Thanks! I've got that "Pixar" shot on my desktop :-)

Cicero Sings said...

You've been doing very well at getting these dragon fly pictures ... every time I get near, they flit off!

Mary said...

Cicero: Well, basically I just sit down at the edge of the pond where there are several favorite "resting spots" that they stop and wait for them to come to me! I get frustrated with the ones that won't stop!! I just sent a friend the link to your scones recipe...she wants to have a "high tea".

Kathie Brown said...

Nice post about the dragon flies. Good shots too. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Mary said...

Kathiesbirds: Thanks! You have a nice blog.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Astounding pictures Mary!! You have captured them so well!! They are a beautiful shade of blue too.

Eve said...

You are hooked now Mary...aint dragonfly watching Grand!!! Wait until you notice the teeny tiny damselflies which I'm sure are all around!! What a challenge they are!!!

Mary said...

Joan: I seem to see more blue ones than any other kind. Would like to see a bit more variety now that I've gotten interested.

Eve: Maybe, I'll just refuse to even look for a damselfly. If I don't see one, I don't have to take any pictures or learn about them. Heck...I'm just getting started on dragonflies!!

Eve said...

Well Mary...I think it's too late because once you see one you won't be able to help yourself. I have the "Stokes Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies" It's a small field guide you might want to pick up. There are other more detailed books but this one is great to have handy. If nothing else you'll amaze your friends when you tell them the next dragonfly that goes by...or they will just look at you funny!!! Have fun!

abb said...

I'm always fascinated by dragon flies and how the male and female "come together". That last photo is just perfect.

Mary! LOVE your new mast head! What an enchanting picture. Of course, I do adore my wrens!

Here's to a wonderful weekend!

P.S. - After a miserable temperature week, I'm sitting here in my kitchen with all my windows thrown open...I might have to go get a sweater!

Becky said...

Such a great post . They look like little Helicopters. LOL

me ann my camera said...

These are wonderful pictures! and I especially love the male blue Dasher with the amber on its wings. And isn't the one with the green face interesting! Such colour combinations! Can't you just imagine the quilting design on a dragonfly's wings; wouldn't it be fantastic? I've noticed too that often the female is so totally differnt from the male in its appearnace and that makes it quite tricky to id them. I found a new dragonfly today that I hand't found previously this year. I'll do a catch up post on mine some day next week. Once again, your pictures are great and I can tell you're absolutely enjoying it so much!

Mary said...

Eve: You may be right and the book sounds good. I really need to buy some guides for several things. I've always just concentrated on birds and ignored the other stuff except to say,"Oh, look isn't that pretty?....or interesting?" I guess it's time to get educated on what I see :-) I can guarantee that my friends would look at me strangely if I start telling them the names of dragonflies! Some of them don't even know I take bird pictures!....or have a blog!

Annie: I'n glad that you are having a break in the weather there. It is pretty nice here, too, although all the rain will make it humid eventually. At least I live below where all the flooding is taking place in Indiana.

Becky and Gary: They do look like helicopters!

Ann: The colors are definitely interesting! I did think about quilt patterns with the wings and whether it would be possible to make one using a see through fabric for the "panes"...I'd have to stop taking pictures and get in the sewing room, however. I haven't made my loon yet! I noticed that your header picture is a differnt type of dragonfly than any that I've seen. So far these 4 are all I've seen.

sandy said...

Fantastic dragonfly photos. I enjoyed these.

sandy

Mary said...

Thanks Sandy!

Mike said...

Beautiful shots Mary, great detail.

Mary said...

Mike: Thanks again!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I have found that they each seem to have their favorite places to land so I would move to another section if I were you and look for different ones there.

Mary said...

Joan: They do seem to have favorite spots. I finally found the amberwing both resting and wheeling. Still have only see the 4 species.

Emily said...

lovely dragonfly photos! in swedish their name translates to "magic spindel"... a rather poetic name... I love that they come is so many bright colors!

JB's Big and Small Worlds said...

More awesome shots. Very nice!
--JB