Spending Time with the Small Things

I spent two hours at Mead Garden today, sweating in the already hot sun and pursuing little things with the camera. A woman walking her Great Dane warned me to take care near the water as she had just seen a large water moccasin, but I had my doubts, what with all the elementary kids who visit the park by the busloads.

The male anoles were flashing the females everywhere I turned:


The dragonflies were back in force, especially blue dashers:


Even though I have photographed hundreds of blue dashers, I still enjoy them. The photo below I might use as a Christmas card for 2007, a weird little angel perched atop an equally weird little tree:



I also shot a gray-green clubtail, Arigomphus pallidus, another new species for me. Clubtails are not handsome dragonflies, but I always enjoy spotting something new.


And the male pondhawks were dueling with the blue dashers at the water's edge. I never got a good picture of one last year; this shot isn't stupendous, but it's an improvement over my sorry efforts from 2006:


I had a lot of fun, but a big project is taking up my time, and I don't know when I'll get the chance to go out again.

Photo Lesson

Today I learned that the hostess, anxiously preparing the Easter feast, is never happy to discover that a guest is dissecting the tulip centerpiece and snapping pictures: