Dragonflies - Beautiful and Ancient

Summer is waiting in the wings, and spring is already retreating. What that means up here in the Frozen Northlands is bug season - mosquitoes and other flying, stinging, biting bugs. But it also brings out the dragonflies during the day and the bats at night. I love walking around through my yard during the days now because the dragonflies are so beautiful and varied.

This lovely blue dragonfly is stunning. Dragonflies can see in 11 spectrums
of color and light - a depth of color and intensity we can only dream of. 

Last week I had a beautiful blue dragonfly hovering near my yard waste bin, a bit later that day one of the much larger black dragonflies were around the front walkway. These guys are really big - almost as large as a hummingbird. As long as they eat mosquitoes, dragonflies are my daytime best friends.

Here's a really fabulous red dragonfly perched on a branch while searching
out its next meal. I could point out lots of mosquitoes for the iridescent
insect. 

Dragonflies are rather amazing - each wing can be operated independently, making them extraordinary flyers. Check out the Wikipedia article on them here. They target their prey specifically and zone in on it, even through a cloud of other insects. They have serrated jaws to tear their prey apart and 360 degree viewing through their large eyes.

What a lovely midnight dragonfly. There are dragonfly sanctuaries
throughout the world. Does your area have one? 

I toast my dragonflies today with the hope that they eat well in my yard. I don't mind sacrificing a few hundred (or thousand) mosquitoes to these beautiful insects - one of the oldest creatures living on earth today. Have a wonderful Saturday. Perhaps I'll have a dragonfly floating above the outdoor swimming pool when I'm swimming there in 90 minutes.