Black Saddlebags Dragonfly

Oh, and a late entry. Here is my blue moon. The second full moon in the month of August.

I knew pretty much squat about dragonflies, but thanks to Dave (Englishman in Bandung), I now know a smidge more than squat. I knew when I saw this on a dead branch on our tree in the front yard (that's another story for another day), that it was something I've never seen before. It is common, but not in my yard! I decided on posting this image, as it was so unusual for me to see something like this. I found out this:

The Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) is a species of skimmer dragonfly found throughout North America. It has distinctive wings with characteristic black blotches at their proximal ends, which make the dragonfly look as though it is wearing saddlebags.
The Black Saddlebags is a relatively large dragonfly at about 5 centimeters in length. The body is thin and black, and the female may have lighter spotting or mottling dorsally. The head is much wider than the rest of the body and is dark brown in color.
The insect can be found in at bodies of stagnant water, such as ponds and ditches. The female mates once and stores all the sperm she needs for fertilization. If she should mate again, the second male will remove the sperm of the first male from her body with the brush-like apparatus on his specially-adapted penis. The larvae of the dragonflies hatch and eat anything they can catch, favoring a carnivorous diet of organisms smaller than themselves. Adults of the species, especially males, congregate in swarms. Some populations of this dragonfly undertake migrations. Both the larvae and adult forms are efficient predators of mosquitoes, so they are a helpful insect to have in wet areas where mosquito infestations occur.

I also have this fun series of photos with a hummingbird dipping his tail in and out of our fountain before settling down for a bath. I also liked this little finch who was in the shrubs eyeing a different birdbath. And by looking at this hummer's feathers, I am thinking it is a young hummer. I was standing outside and a hummingbird flew right up to me, looked me over as if to determine if I needed chased off, and then flew away. I told it not to get too cheeky with me as I was the one who provided the sugar water. Ingrates.

A lovely day today. We used to pack up and head to our beach house for the long Labor Day weekend, but no more. We sold it long ago. We do miss it, but not the driving to and from with all the traffic. Might go to the Gresham Farmer's Market with auntie tomorrow. Then we have a fun movie, The Artist, to watch sometime. I am looking forward to that.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Drive carefully, holiday or no holiday.