A Widow in the Garden...

It would have been soooo easy to blip another hummingbird today, but I thought I needed to show a little restraint for a change. Besides, there were so very cool dragons in the garden this afternoon, all begging to be blipped. This particular one is a female Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa for those of you who can't go a day without some Latin.) This is a very common dragon, found throughout most of the United States.

I spotted her in the garden, so grabbed my macro lens and scurried out to try to get some pics. As is often the case, she flew as I got nearer, but continued returning to the same perch (a day lily stalk - making me glad I haven't dead-headed them!) I was able to creep quite close and I stayed crouched in the garden for some time hoping she might catch something and bring it back to eat... but, alas, no luck.

I posted five other shots from this afternoon on Flickr, starting HERE with a yakking hummingbird. The second shot was my blip until the dragon came along...

Busy morning, then lunch with a colleague, then back here around 3. I've got a call tonight with someone who's facing post brain surgery complications and wants to talk. I remember so clearly my own journey, so I always make time for people who are going through it themselves. It's the least I can do to payback a fraction of the support I was given.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to head into NYC on the bus and will stay over with Kura tomorrow night. Her birthday is today, so she and I will be doing some major celebrating tomorrow - oysters are on the menu...and wine, lots of wine! I'll probably blip early tomorrow if I can convince one of the backyard birds to pose for me...

Eight more sleeps until Hubs is back again. Not that I'm counting or anything...

Thanks for sending my happy couple yesterday to the spotlight page - they are still there as I write this. Apparently insect hanky-panky is pretty popular!

Debbi