Dragonfly!

It's been an amazing few weeks for dragonflies and damselflies at the PSU Arboretum's lily pond.

On the very last day of May, I spotted a tiny but lovely blue damselfly there.

This past Friday morning, I witnessed a dragonfly being born to flight.

Thursday afternoon was just lovely: all blue skies and sunshine. And I witnessed something I hadn't seen before (or maybe I'd seen it but didn't guess what was going on): a huge green dragonfly laying eggs!

It would land on a plant on the water surface, then put its tail in the water, and wiggle its tail and wings around vigorously. Usually it selected plants that were well anchored, but at one point it landed on a floating piece of leaf or twig - and the force of its efforts sent it sailing! It reminded me of one of my favorite Disney characters, Evinrude the Outboard Dragonfly in the film The Rescuers! I admit I laughed out loud to see this tiny craft in motion: that's what we call one dragonfly power.

As I walked out, I saw two dragonflies locked together in a mid-air embrace. Hmm, that explains the egg-laying, at least! The whole dragonfly circle of life, up close and personal . . .

I love dragonflies and damselflies; they seem like magic creatures to me. I think what I enjoyed most about this particular photo (and I took LOTS!) was the reflection of a perfect June day - blue-blue sky and the greens of the lily pond's vegetation - in those shiny silver eyes. :-)


P.S. For the curious, here is more info about the dragonfly life cycle.