The Dark Lord of the Park

I set out today determined to photograph birds ... which all went totally out the window when I found all sorts of first-of-year dragons!  This beauty is a Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta) male, a large dragon found in marshy lake edges.  They are pretty easy to photograph using a long lens (I used the Tamron 200-500 for this, at 500mm, handheld) but harder with a macro because they don't let you get very close.  Very cool creatures!  

I posted six other shots on Flickr, starting HERE with my second favorite shot of the day.  A few dragons, a duckling and a red squirrel.  

Met up with a friend this morning for some birding, photography and a visit.  She also gave me a small Hawthorn tree which I will plant in our back yard.  They are wonderful trees for birds as they produce berries in the late fall/winter.  It will probably be a few years before this one produces fruit, since it is only a few feet tall right now.

The swallows are making it hard for me to check the nest, with one or the other of them in the box every time I've gone out.  Hoping to sneak in tomorrow morning - just want to get a count on the number of eggs in the nest.  It is such a delight to see them swooping over the house and through the yard.  

We had quite a lot of drama last night at dinner.  Hubs and I ate on the deck (as usual in the summer) and just as we finished dinner, a small flycatcher (Eastern Wood Pewee) came out of the woods and started chasing the baby finches all over the yard. That got my little wren all fired up and HE started chasing the Pewee.  Then, out of nowhere, another male wren showed up!  That precipitated mad chases and sing-offs all over the yard, while the Pewee surveyed everything from a high perch and a hummer gave him the stink-eye.  Then, just because it wasn't already exciting enough - a catbird leapt out of the cherry tree and snatched a moth in flight.  Who needs television?

It's Hump Day, people.  Two more days until the weekend...

Cheers,
Debbi