From Vikusik on Flickr

Sunday was a sunny, beautiful day.  I sat in a chair at the edge of my garden husking my popcorn when a huge dragonfly landed on the front of my t-shirt.  It’s rather startling when an insect of this size lands on you – especially when you hear it coming in for a landing.  It was stunningly beautiful.  It sat in a spot that allowed me close inspection.  At first I was wondering why it had little red legs under it’s chin then realized (due to the crunching) that it was eating another insect recently caught.

The property has a lot of wetlands and I look forward to seeing dragonflies every year.  There is usually a yearly swarm which is a sight to behold.  We have flying ants that take off from nests in the stone patio and it seems like the dragonflies are ready and waiting for this event.  A few years ago it looked like a dragonfly cyclone over the patio as hundreds of dragonflies swarmed over the emerging ants for dinner.  They must have been tasty.

Last spring the New York Times did an article with a few videos about dragonflies, thought I would share – Nature’s Drone, Pretty and Deadly.

I’m just glad I’m not a flying ant or mosquito.