...the Eyes have it...

Go ahead, look CLOSER to see all her eyes!

If my field guide can be trusted, this is a mature female Blue Dasher. But whatever she is, her eyes are SO cool! I have been trying to get a shot that shows the eyes in detail and this is the closest I've gotten. Used the Nikkor 18-200 with a 4X close up filter. As usual, the perimeter is blurry (a function of cheap glass on the filter) but you can see the many facets of her eyes, which is what I was going for. Here's another view head-on!

It's been a good weekend here in the WFK (Wild Freaking Kingdom). Had dinner across the way at our neighbor's last night - always fun and lots of laughs. Worked outside today, mostly puttering around and straitening things up ... and a bit of a macro safari, too. I chased dragons and bees around trying to close ups, much to the amusement of the hubs. I am also ready to wage war on the Japanese Beetles who have come out of the earth and are eating everything! I even found the little shits on my basil!! My challenge is how to demolish them without harming anything else - seems like a mixture of soapy water may do the trick, if I use non-toxic soap. Sigh. I've tried to convince the birds that JB's are tasty, but they don't seem totally convinced.

Still trying to catch a bee in flight, but results have been less than desired. This was the best of the lot today.

Glad you got a laugh out of my puffy catbird yesterday. I've never seen a bird puff up the feathers on their head like that - looked a bit like Elmer Fudd.

Happy to report that there have been no more bear sightings. I am putting a suet feeder on the deck during the day for the woodpeckers (three downy kids were here this morning having a nosh) and bringing it in at night. Maybe I am smarter than the bear???

Happy Sunday, blippers!