Mrs. Blue Dasher

I had so many blip options today but ultimately decided I needed to get up close and personal with this dragonfly, a female Blue Dasher.  These dragons are very cooperative photographic subjects, allowing the photographer to get very close and tending to return to the same perch.  So, a small amount of patience paid off and I got a decent close up.  This is heavily cropped, of course, but I'll put the original in Extra to give you some context.  

I was sorely tempted to blip my first good look at a fledgling Downy Woodpecker being fed by her mom, but I am hoping for a better shot over the next few days.  Also hoping to get some shots of the fledgling nuthatches who are cuter than cute following their parents around.  Baby birds all over the place and bugs galore - I'm in heaven.

We had a great dinner with some friends last night who own an organic farm a few miles from us.  I zipped over to their farm today and caught shot shots of swallows (barn and tree) and will go over again soon as I love wandering their property.  

The little black swallowtail caterpillar molted overnight and now looks like a completely different cat - quite amazing to see the transformation.  I posted it and two other shots on Flickr, starting HERE (cat, cool green soldier fly and a slightly rumpled lady beetle).

Thanks for stopping by!

xo
Debbi

PS:  And there is one less squirrel in the yard.  I found a tuft of tail fur, the skull and the tiny rib-cage, all picked clean, at the edge of the woods.  And right next to that, some freshly laid fox scat.  And early this morning when Hubs looked out the upstairs window, he spotted two foxes on the patio, no doubt looking for wayward chipmunks.  He tapped the window and they took off.