Small dragon

I hit the grove about 08:30 which is becoming a routine time now. Any earlier and nothing is out except mosquitoes, any later and everything is warmed up and too fast to capture. To be honest, I was expecting another dismal day of hopper chasing, as it has been for a week now, but to my surprise, everything was out and begging to be blipped. Ironic too, that the rains did not come early afternoon, as they have done for the last week. This certainly adds weight to the argument that insects can predict the weather.

I hadn't got off my bike when I spotted this small dragonfly. I was able to set up and collect thirty images as it continually hopped into the air to snag a passing insect, always returning to the same spot. I have come to the conclusion that this is how they feed. Rather than flying around to spot their prey, they perch on the ground, spot and attack.

At first glance this dragon looks the same as the green that I posted on the 13th and 20th of last month, but there are subtle differences. This dragon is noticeably smaller and hovers a lot smoother, more like a damsel fly. The eyes have brown patches over yellow/green and the color markings continue along the abdomen.

For those interested, the difference between a dragonfly and a damsel fly, which are both from the same family of insects, are: Dragonfly eyes are much larger and touch at the top of the head, damsel eyes are smaller and separated, almost like on stalks. When parked, dragonfly wings are spread horizontal or sloping down, damsel fly wings are placed together above the body.

I picked up some super images today, including a new hopper. Three hoppers, a cricket, fly, yellow bug and an even better shot of the spider from two days ago, but the blip spot had to go to the new variety of dragon, no contest.

Dave