I did get to observe that the rainy months of July, August, and September had set the wildflowers into overdrive. If our provost doesn't pay the guys in haz-mat suits to spray Agent Orange-quality herbicide on all the growth, I might get 4 to 6 weeks of really great photo opportunities. I know that she is just trying to reduce the number of snakes and a potential alligator close to campus, but I hate the wasteland that results after the chemical defoliation.
It was too windy for normal dragonfly activity, but I did spy some four-spotted pennants, a species long gone from the lake near home. I saw some males and immatures, like this one, color-morphing into a mature male:
Where most dragonflies hide on a windy day, I don't know. But the Carolina saddlebags were tightly clutching dried twigs that swayed from side to side. I don't know how many I passed before I realized that they were there, weird blooms on dead stems. Almost every gray, weathered twig had a saddlebags on top, its wings pinwheeling in the breeze:
My favorite shot is this close up. The green-blue in the background is the surface of the lake:
I have seen Carolina saddlebags all summer, but always in flight. The last pictures that I took of one were in the spring. Note to self: To photograph saddlebags, look for subjects on windy days.
