After years of seeing beautiful bird photos taken by friends at the the Gilbert Riparian Preserve and saying to myself “I must go one of these days!”, it took curiosity about Dragonflies to finally get me there. I was very surprised at how beautiful the Preserve was and now I’m eager to go back despite the long drive. This particular trip was prompted by a walk advertised by the Maricopa Audubon Society featuring an introduction to Dragonflies. Thanks to leader Bob Witzeman, I now know the difference between a Damselfly and a Dragonfly 🙂
4 thoughts on “damsels and dragons”
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We see these out in the desert where there is no known water within miles. Fascinating!
And they are so gorgeous. Photography is really the only way to truly capture them. Art can only provide their essence, because they have so much detail crammed into those small bodies!
Seeing them in my yard quite often was what stirred my curiosity so I started reading and found out these guys are great at adapting! One interesting thing I read said: “The most favorable habitats for the development of larval phases are flowing and semi-flowing water bodies of irrigation systems. The life cycles in dragonflies are synchronous with seasonal climatic changes; their reproductive period is restricted to the time of optimal hygrothermal conditions. The time of flying in monovoltine species may be reduced and shifted to spring time……” . Pretty neat 🙂
These are lovely shots, Marianne! Looks like we have a new dragonshooter at the Preserve, and that’s all to the good.
Thanks, Pete! I hope to get out again before they’re gone.