On Wings of Gossamer

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles.

[Photo borrowed from the Internet]

They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever.

[Lily Pads photo by Sasha Harris-Cronin]

He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap.

As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And, as he soared, he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water.

He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew.

So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!

[Author of story unknown]

I captured the blue-tailed dragonfly today while he joyously explored the pond in our courtyard. You can click on the images to enlarge them if you'd like to see this glorious little creature up close.

I'm not sure who enjoyed his adventures more ... him or me.

A Dragonfly at Rest

I was in Barnes & Noble yesterday and was browsing through some photography books when I came across a book about macro photography. The book was a collection of macro photos taken of different subjects, one of which was dragonflies. The author stated that dragonflies are difficult to photograph because they seldom stay still long enough to focus on.

It reminded me of some pictures I captured last summer of a dragonfly fluttering around some of the water plants in the pond in our courtyard. I was delighted when he rested long enough for me to get some close-up shots of him. I hope you will click on some of the pictures to see this amazing little creature up close.

I recently sold my Canon macro lens because soon after I bought it, Canon came out with their EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro Lens which has an "image stabilization" feature. For fledgling photographers like myself, this is a "must have" feature on any camera. I'm going to order one next week and can't wait to capture the wonders of Spring ... up close and personal.

The Life of a Dragonfly

I was on my way to work in my backyard yesterday morning, when I noticed a dragonfly flittering around our pond. It didn't seem to be afraid of me, so I went back inside and got my camera to get a closer look at it. It's always interesting and fun to see insects up close, and the dragonfly was amazing. It's little "face" reminded me of a little E.T., the Extraterrestrial. Click on the photo to enlarge it to see what I mean ... The most dominant feature was his (or her?) eyes. They were huge compared to the rest of its body, and were constantly moving. Upon researching "dragonflies," I discovered that because of their large multifaceted eyes, which contain thousands of tiny lenses, the adult dragonfly can see nearly 360 degrees around it at all times. It was exciting to see his eyes moving and I wished for a video camera to capture it. Here are the rest of the pictures I took, and if you click on them to enlarge them, I think you will enjoy seeing this beautiful little creature up close. I especially love its delicate, transparent wings ... One thing I enjoy about my photography is learning a little about the subjects of my pictures ... be it person, place, or thing. I enjoy researching it and learning something about it. The most interesting (and saddest) thing I learned about dragonflies is that the adult winged dragonflies live only for a few weeks, so when you see a winged dragonfly, it is living the final days of its lifespan. That means that ours won't be with us much longer, but I'm glad it lived its short life at our pond. I hope to show it to our granddaughter Avery this weekend and show her my pictures. I'm so glad I took the time to capture it with my camera. Here are a few more interesting facts I discovered about Dragonflies, which were compiled by Brandon Cornett at 21Facts.com: You often see dragonflies near bodies of water (ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams) because they lay their eggs on or near the water. Dragonfly young (nymphs) have a special appendage on their head that they use as a spear to catch small fish. They are predatory insects from birth. Dragonflies are not born with wings. They are born in a larvae state and eventually go through a partial metamorphosis process, during which they grow their wings. Dragonflies spend most of their lives in the larva stage (up to three years, depending on the species). The adult, winged stage only lasts a few weeks. Mating is the primary reason for their winged stage. So when you see a winged dragonfly, you know it's toward the end of its lifespan. Sad, but true. Male dragonflies can be very territorial, staking claim to a particular area alongside a pond or stream [ours must be a he]. Dragonflies will sometimes travel in swarms, which may be related to weather changes such as the passage of cold fronts. Dragonflies can be useful in controlling mosquito populations. Mosquitoes are one of their primary food sources! Dragonflies are ancient insects. They have existed on Planet Earth for approximately 300 million years. Today, they look very much like they did in "dinosaur times," though they have gradually gotten smaller since then. The largest dragonfly fossil (one of the earliest) had a wingspan of nearly three feet! That makes it the largest flying insect in known history. Dragonflies have two pairs of wings, and as far as insects go, dragonflies are among the fastest. Some can fly upward of 30 miles per hour. Their four wings also allow them to move sideways, backward, and to hover in place. I hope the next time you see a dragonfly you can take the time to watch it for a few minutes and appreciate its beauty.