Is it autmun yet?

Autumn Meadowhawk - Symptetrum vicinum

I was all set to give you a hummingbird today, but then I spotted this small dragon in my coneflowers and had to post it. It's a new dragon for me and I had to spend a bit of time with my field guide trying to identify it. I'm 99% confident in my id, but leaving a 1% margin for error...

Another sticky day out, and even though the temps are into the low 80's it still feels rather stifling outside. So, I spent the morning inside working on some things in my office. When I took a break to go out and sit in the garden, I spotted a rose-breassted grosbeak (first male I've seen this summer) and a female Baltimore oriole -- and of course, I didn't have my camera with me. WHEN WILL I LEARN??? Drat.

Had a hard rain this afternoon, accompanied by thunder and lightening which caused all the hummingbirds to take temporary leave of their senses - it was like a war zone, with occasional rain bathes breaking out. I sat under our gazebo and enjoyed every moment of it, staying nice and dry while the skies dumped about an inch of rain. Cool!

Thirteen shots posted in Flickr, staring HERE. . And fair warning - the third shot is my spider, very up close and personal.

Yes, I'm calling her "my" spider. Thanks to Dave/Vodkaman who identified her as a Nursery Web Spider, in the family Pisauridae. She is tending a brood on teeny, tiny baby spiders right now and somehow that makes her less scary to me. She never gets more than an inch from where all the tiny babies are, wrapped in their protective web. I'm quite fascinated, much to my surprise. I've had a terror of spiders since I was a small girl so me being able to look at her, and even take photos is quite a big step. Thanks to Blip, and people like Dave make things like spiders less scary!

Thank you for the lovely comments, hearts, and stars yesterday - I'm glad you liked the Halloween Pennant as much as I did. They are such beautiful dragons, and wonderful fun to photograph since they tend to perch and will let you get fairly close. Interestingly, today's dragon let me get the camera within an inch - this shot was taken with my little Coolpix P510 which does a surprisingly good job on macros.

Hope you're all having a good week!

xxoo
Debbi