Snip and snails and... dragonfly tails. That's what little boys are made of (and some girls too)

I was sitting on my brother's couch when my 11-year-old nephew sidled up beside me. Calmly he said, "I found something really cool floating in the swimming pool... but you may not think it's cool..." his voice trailed off a bit.

"Really?" I asked with all sincerity. He had my full attention. Rarely does he deem anything as "cool" let alone "really cool", and I know if he does, it almost always involves some sort of wildlife (a boy after my own heart).

"What is it?" I asked inquisitively.

"I found a dragonfly floating in the deep end of the pool. It's this big," he indicated with his fingers a large find.

"Is it still alive?" I asked.

"Maybe... I don't know... probably not..." he replied.

"What color is it?" I was thoroughly intrigued both in the dragonfly he had found and the fact that this normally unassuming, quiet, and cerebral boy had initiated the conversation with me instead of the other way around.

"He's kinda brown," his eyes twinkled with the delight of a boy who has found someone who loves bugs as much as he does.

"Where is it? Your dragonfly is going to be the first thing I photography with something new I got!" I was already headed to my tote bag in the hall and talking over my shoulder.

It was he who was intrigued now. He followed me to my bag as I extracted my latest fun acquisition still in the unopened package. I had thrown it in "just in case" and, at this moment, I was so glad I did.

I showed him as I unpackaged it (dropping my iPhone in the process--good thing it was in a case) and explained, "This is an Olloclip. It clips onto my iPhone so I can take close-up macro photos of things that are small. I want to try it out on the dragonfly you found!"

I clipped the lens onto the corner of my iPhone over the top of the built-in lens, and he led me to the dragonfly that had been carefully and lovingly laid out on a paper towel by his mom (my sister) in a shoebox to make a safe journey home with them later in the day.

He stood and watched as I gingerly dragged the paper towel to get the perfect indirect light from the kitchen window and began shooting. I was amazed at the details I was catching--details my eyes couldn't see. We both ooo'ed and aah'ed with each capture. Pretty soon we had an audience as other family members wanted to know what all the excitement by the kitchen sink was about.

After I felt like I'd captured every angle, the dragonfly was placed reverently back into its shoebox. Neither he nor I were happy about the dragonfly's demise. We never said it, but we both knew the other was thinking it. Also unspoken, was the sentiment that somehow by appreciating the beauty of this fascinating creature and honoring it through careful study, it's untimely death wouldn't have been in vain.

We stood afterwards and carefully reviewed on the iPhone what the macro lens had seen that we could not--the tiny perfect serration on each wing-edge and the luminescent panes of gossamer film. It is moments like this that remind me to strive to always see the world the way a child sees it.

I am not affiliated with the company that produces the Olloclip or Apple that produces the iPhone. 
I was not compensated for anything written in this post in products, services or monetary funds.
I simply wrote about them because they are cool.

The weatherman says the heat is coming... and the dragonflies have finally arrived

With temps expected to get to 100F (38C) over the next few days, I'll be trying to find cool places to duck into. And I probably won't venture out into the garden during the day... well, maybe for just a peek at the pond. If I sit under the pomegranate bush the heat isn't so bad.

And going out in the garden at twilight after a hot day is one of my favorite things to do.

It's "dragonfly weather" right now and as the sun sinks in the sky the dragonflies begin their evening hunt--darting back and forth in an aerial display forming a canopy 8-12 feet over the garden. "Dragonfly weather" is magical.

Hubby and I were out working in the back garden at twilight today and got to witness the first time the dragonflies have been out en masse. Hubby finished installing a trellis on the fence for some climbing roses I'll be putting into the ground, while I dug a hole and transplanted a rose that was in the wrong spot for us to complete the garden plans we've been working on the past couple of weeks. We've been fighting mosquitos when we go out to work in the evening, but this evening the dragonfly squadron helped considerably. It was wonderful.

So if I have to put up with the mid-day heat to get "dragonfly weather", then so be it.

Our backyard wildlife habitat: The dragonflies of summer

One of my favorite things about summer is the arrival of the dragonflies. They grace us with their presence until early autumn and then we don't get to see them again until the following summer.

Helpful and hospitable guests, dragonflies eat mosquitoes and gnats on the wing. On warm summer evenings right before sunset, if I look up I can see them zipping back and forth over the garden forming a canopy of sorts. Like our own tiny fleet of jet-fighters, they are waging and winning a war against the bugs we don't want and I rarely get bit by mosquitoes when the dragonflies are on patrol.

Dragonflies and damselflies (a smaller cousin) like water sources, so they love our pond. They also like to have foliage that hangs over the water's edge. The large lily pads in our pond serve as landing pads for females to lay their eggs by hanging their tails over the edge of the pads into the pond water.



Because our pond is kept chemical-free, dragonfly and damselfly eggs that get laid in the water eventually hatch into nymphs that burrow in the silt and sediment at the bottom of the pond to grow until they're big enough to go through metamorphosis and get their wings. Then they join their cousins that come from other nearby water sources to fly above our pond during the warm summer days and evenings.

This is one of those seasonal cycles of life that I only discovered since building our garden so it was wildlife-friendly. And the dragonflies of summer are something I have grown to love and cherish. I can't imagine summer without them now.

Click here to find out more about how you can garden for wildlife

Weird Wisteria and Territorial Dragonflies

Even though it's a scorcher of day outside, I had to go out and photograph my weird wisteria and share. I don't think I've ever known a wisteria to bloom twice in a year. It bloomed earlier this spring and then I guess it's decided that it's time to bloom again. This is such an odd wisteria. I've had it for over five years and it's only bloomed once before this--in September of 2006. Maybe it's making up for lost time? Regardless of the wisteria's weirdness, Mr. Bumblebee seems quite happy at the unseasonable bloom.

While I was photographing the wisteria, I noticed this gorgeous dragonfly buzzing around the pond. Usually we have more dragonflies than we do this year, so it was a pleasant sight to see. It lighted on one of the drip-mist heads on the edge of the pond and let me get very close for some shots (click on the image to enlarge).

The only time it would fly away was when another dragonfly would come flying around the pond. Then this one would take off and chase the other dragonfly away. Once the trespasser was gone, my subject would light on the sprinkler head again. It was quite interesting to witness this territorial display. I'm used to hummingbirds being like this but not dragonflies, as they usually hunt in a cooperative darting canopy on summer evenings over the garden.

I sat back in my chair under the plum tree only a foot or two from the brave little dragonfly and watched. Over and over, I would see the other dragonfly come into the pond area. If the trespasser stayed behind a screen of one of the potted plants, my subject would stay content on the sprinkler. But as soon as the trespasser came within my subject's line of sight, it would take off and chase the trespasser away--over and over, again and again.

So maybe this is why we don't have as many dragonflies this year.

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How Could I Forget the Dragonflies

After reading the blog over at It's All Good and then following his link to Stolen Moments and seeing the beautiful photographs there (including the ones of dragonflies, hummingbirds, and kitties), I realized that I haven't ever posted my own dragonfly photos.

So on this gorgeous Saturday, I'm posting my favorite dragonfly photos that I've shot here at Rosehaven Cottage out by our pond.

"Dragonfly Silhouette" (at left) was chosen to grace the homepage as part of the photo rotation of PhotoShelter (which made me very happy!). This little guy was trying to beat the heat on a 100 degree day. He was just "chilling" on a canna lily bud. Everytime I got a little too close, he'd fly away, circle the pond a few times, and then land right back in the same spot. It made it much easier than most photography sessions of wildlife and insects. I was able to get some beautiful shots because he was so compliant and loved that canna lily bud so much.

"Monet Dragonfly" (below) was taken during the same photo session. I didn't have to do any post-production tweaking to get the amazing "Monet" effect that I was surprised to find once I got back to the computer. Those are our own lily pads in the background that create this lovely effect. And the color was just this way when I got back inside. I only had to lighten the photo a little bit and do some post-production cropping. Sometimes digital photography is full of great surprises.

Prints of both photos are now available at the Rosehaven Cottage online gallery. Monet Dragonfly is also available as a tile coaster or a hardwood keepsake box.