Ol' Blue Eyes

Going with the easy shot today - a charming male Blue Dasher dragonfly perched in my patch of rudbeckia.  No doubt waiting for a meal to come along.  I am always pleased when I can get the compound eye detail, especially when I'm shooting with the 300 lens.  Of course, the fact that this species tends to a) sit still and b) return to the same perch makes photos embarrassingly easy.

I dropped Jax off at the Inn this morning where he will be staying for the next week while we travel to visit our nephew and his family.  I confess that I was leaking from the eyes when I got to my car after dropping him.  It helps that they post pictures on their FB page of the various dogs and they put up a whole series of Jax having a great time playing with another dog. 

When I got home, I loaded some stuff into the RV and then took my camera out to the garden where I found several interesting subjects.  I saw what I believe is my first ever sharptail bee and also a leaf cutter bee with sublime green eyes.  Topped off my a very dapper predatory stinkbug.  The mountain mint is alive with pollinators and predators now - and I love it.  

This afternoon I picked up groceries for our trip and got them all tucked away in the RV.  Still have a few more things to load but the bulk of the work is done and we should be ready to roll out tomorrow morning by 9.  SIL is house/cat sitting for us.  If time allows in the morning, I may try to get a snap in the garden; otherwise tomorrow's blip will be something on the road.

Dark, plain and simple, today.

xo
Debbi