Sunday, May 4, 2008

Dragonfly



Lilly, our golden retriever, loves to go for walks. This evening, I put her leash on and we headed out the front door. I stopped in my tracks when I spotted this dragonfly on the front porch clinging to one of the plants I grew from seed, (I think it is the milkweed).

I only saw a few of these last year and never could get a good picture. Poor Lilly, I had to literally drag her back into the house, so I could get my camera and try to get a few pictures. It was the perfect model and even though I placed my little Canon A630 right up next to it, it didn't move.

A few minutes later Lilly and I were enjoying our walk on this gorgeous evening. We even saw a rabbit, which was thankfully in a neighbor's yard and not my own. I got pictures of the rabbit too, but those pictures didn't turn out so well.

24 comments:

Jan said...

wow--i would have done exactly the same thing if i'd been there with my dog James! it is really a great photo!

beckie said...

Oh, beautiful! I haven't seen any this year yet. Will have to be on the look out now. Really good picture.

Jayne said...

WOW! What a photo Robin! So cool!

Patricia said...

Beautiful photo, Robin. Within the dragonfly order there are two main groups: dragonflies and damselflies. Your photo is of an orange bluet damselfly. One of the ways to distinguish between the two orders is that dragonflies rest with their wings horizontal, where damselflies rest with their wings together. I have found that damselflies are much more difficult to photograph than dragonflies. They are usually smaller and difficult to approach. This was a great photo op, Robin.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Great picture Robin. Have camera will travel, especially this time of year.

NCmountainwoman said...

Great picture. Tell Lilly we thank her for the sacrifice she made, albeit reluctantly.

Gail said...

Beautiful damselfly, the color is outstanding. Thank Lily for waiting....and thanks to Patricia for identifying it as a damselfly!

gail

Phillip Oliver said...

Incredible photo Robin!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Jan, normally she is outside with me anyway but she was ready to walk and would not follow me back in the house.

Thank you, Nancy.

Beckie, I was surprised to see it too.

Thanks, Jayne.

Patricia, I stopped by your blog to visit today. Thank you for identifying the damselfly for me. I never even though to look it up, I've just always called them dragonflies. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better after your surgery and hope you recover quickly.

Lisa, a lot of times I will work in the yard or go for walks with the camera in my pocket and it is always in my purse when I go out. Wouldn't you know, I didn't have it yesterday.

NCMountainWoman. Thanks, I think Lilly has forgiven me for the interruption, she really should be used to it by now.

Thank you, Gail and Phillip.

Diana said...

Robin - what a great photo of the dragonfly. They are so cool, aren't they? I'm sure you did drag Lilly back in, they don't like to backtrack once they are lassoed up, do they? Congrats on the new job, btw. I haven't been online in a while so I'm just now catching up.

Unknown said...

I am glad that Patricia posted, as I was wondering when I saw the picture myself. I though... "hmmm, I always thought that dragonflies had their wings out..." I guess noticing the difference comes from having too many dragonflies land on my fishing pole tip through the years! Ha!

Amy said...

Amazing photo - I would be beside myself if a dragonfly let me take it's picture. He (she?) is beautiful!

Rusty in Miami said...

That is such a cool picture, how did you do that? I never can get a good picture of dragonflies, they move so fast.

Anonymous said...

Amazing, Amazing photo! I just love pictures of Damselflies and Dragonflies!

Anonymous said...

Robin--it's a treat to come here after being gone a few days. All your photos are beautiful. Looks like Spring has truly come. I went ouch when you got stung by the stinging nettle--but ohhed an ahhed over the crabapple blossoms. Looks the dragonfly was posing for ya. I'm glad you are finally seeing lots of color.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Great pic Robin. Sometimes we stumble upon something very unexpected in our gardens and then doggies have to wait just a little longer while Mommy takes her pic. ;-)

Frances, said...

Robin, that photo is breathtaking, and what a beautiful creature, and learned something new from the comment, all good. Except for Lilly being put on hold, bless her heart. Did you use a tripod?

Karen said...

What a great picture! It's interesting to see such details on all the little creatures in our gardens.

Rose said...

Wow! This is a spectacular photo, Robin.

verobirdie said...

great photo with a lot of details!

Kristi said...

Great shot!

Anonymous said...

fabulous photo Robin. I can never get close enough to get a shot like this (at least not so far). Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

oops that was me that posted anonymously. I hit the publish button too soon. Sorry!

Kerri said...

Fabulous! What wonderful details! I'm glad you didn't miss the opportunity, and surely Lily understood that you can't let a photo op go by :)