Tag Archives: Dragonflies

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Last Saturday Rozanne Rapozo was at a friend's lily pond in Gualala. There she found dragonflies, as they zipped around like the tiny helicopters they are. The first is the orange Flame Skimmer. Look how very nicely this dragonfly posed for Rozanne. They never do that for me!

And here is an Eight-spotted Skimmer.

A Blue Dancer was also spotted, but that will be for another post.

Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

This morning fog blanketed the coast and a ways inland. It pulled back as the morning progressed, at least in Anchor Bay. It's in the low 70's with a...you guessed it!...a breeze. Happy Summer Equinox!

 

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Rozanne Rapozo visited the lagoon of the Gualala River a few weeks and she found dragonflies. For many of us, dragonflies are difficult to photograph because they move so fast. But Rozanne got a wonderful photo of what I thought were mating dragonflies. You will see they are reflected in the river.

I sent Rozanne’s photo to Kathy Biggs. Kathy wrote the book Common Dragonflies of California. She wrote, “Beautiful image of ovipositing Variegated Meadowhawks. They have already mated and now he is tandem guarding her as she lays their eggs. If he didn’t stay guarding her, another male might grab her and remove his sperm, so they stay in tandem. This is a migratory species but these two look pretty fresh still. SUCH a gorgeous photo!"

Rozanne got another photo of these two beauties.

Isn't this fascinating? Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

We had a little misting rain this morning, but blue skies are now the order of the day!

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Craig Tooley has been at Bower Park on the Gualala Ridge photographing Dragonflies and a Damselfly. Bower Park has a large pond/lake that the Dragonflies love. Here is an Eight-spotted Skimmer.

They are hard to photograph - well, at least for me! I went there last week and tried for some nice photos but had no luck. I did get this photo of some interesting clouds.

And here is the lake.

With warm weather in the forecast, a visit to Bower Park will certainly bring you sightings of dragonflies. Here's a fun fact about dragonflies: They have four wings that can operate independently of each other. As you might imagine, they are excellent fliers. They can fly up, down, sideways, backwards, and they can even hover like a helicopter.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. I will be sharing more of his photos soon! To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com