Blue Darner Mosaic Dragonfly - Hand Held

Note: This was taken on July 10, 2010. The date was changed to place the image in with the other dragonflies.

I was in love with Dragonflies as a kid. I was fascinated by them (and damselflies as well). But I didn't really learn about them until 2009 when I began studying them for the next three summers. While still trying to get an Oak Titmouse, I met a entomologist and photographer, Tim Manolis, knee deep in the HF Lake with a full array of camera and lighting equipment. I asked how... That's all it took because I was speaking with the author of one of books on Dragonflies of California. He was a professor at U.C. Davis, and our acquaintance lasted three years though I met two other authors and visited the Entomology Department at Davis several times. If I left this out of my bio on Flickr, note that I was a biology major in college and would be a retired professor of biology today if they hadn't required German and another language plus physics and chemistry. Those are four parts of my brain that were and remained a vacuum!

Now, dragonflies. Do you know that dragonflies have existed in their present form for 309 million years? That's 100 MILLION years more than the three humanoid species, two of which didn't make it. Yet the Dragonfly was "perfect" from the first. I have an authenticated 300 million year old dragonfly in amber (given by my kids for my 70th birthday which was approximately 299,999,930 years after this poor stiff became stiffer in amber). You won't see any differences between my dragonfly and one at any body of water.

The dragonfly became an obsession for three years because it was the only animal that I could get a picture of in flight. There are only two (feel free to argue) that can fly and hover, the dragonfly and the hummingbird. For 300 million years, the life cycle and behavior of the dragonfly has been consistent. The female lays her eggs in water, the eggs become nymphs and the nymphs live under water for six years after which they emerge and live for a mere six months during which time they hunt for food and a mate, and the cycle repeats itself. (As nymphs, the dragonfly will molt five or six times, the last time breaking through something akin to a butterfly chrysalis, climbing up a reed or blade of grass in the water, then dries out and becomes an instant hunter. An image of the process with a damselfly can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/ethanwinning/36067756300/in/photoli....) The dragonfly is an expert hunter, killing fish and other large insects as a nymph, and whatever it can catch as an adult patrolling its territory. It patrols its territory, often hitting speeds of 35mph, and has been known to kill small birds and other dragonflies in flight!

Dragonflies have often been referred to as "flying jewels," so brightly colored that they became the models for tsars, royalty, and famous jewelers. It is a favorite gift during the 19th and 20th Centuries, and the most colorful would be made of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and set in platinum, gold, and other precious metals. One dragonfly from Lalique was sold at Christie's auction for $2.5 million US, but others privately bought and sold during the Art-Deco period (when a buck was a buck) for up to $10 million, even outstripping the price of a Faberge egg.

But for me, all I wanted was a Blue Mosaic in flight and, with burst mode and my piddling camera in 2010, I was able to capture 20 in flight even including the Black Saddlebags and Flame Skimmer. Of course, that was 20 out of 2,000, still a better ratio than my birds in flight record. Keep in mind that all my photography, including insects and spiders, is hand held. I always found tripods to be cumbersome, and learned breath control as the secret, well breathing and the steady hand of the Waco Kid.

Some of my pictures can be found in other Field Guides of Dragonflies of the West, and my fascination continues though I can't do 35 mph or hunt with their abilities.

And then ... and then, I got my first really good image of a bird, an Oak Titmouse in fact, the one bird that I thought would be a nemesis forever. But I got lucky and had my first Oak Titmouse, then Juniper Titmouse (at 7,000 feet), and then an American Robin. How can there ever be a better hobby, and one that I've started to pass on to my grandkids.

Taken in: United States / California / Walnut Creek (show map)

Taken on: June 26, 2019

Sets appears in: • Dragonflies & Damselflies

Groups appears in: • Flying Insects • Insect Photography more » • Nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors • Explore/INTERESTINGNESS Group • Insects and Spiders • FLICKR INSECTS • Spectacular Insects • The Beauty of Nature • Reptiles, Amphibians, Arachnids, and Insects • **Explore Unexplored!** (10 Favs & No Explored) • NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE • Cool insect photos • Wildlife,The best of! • East Bay Nature (Geotagged Only) • Caught In Flight • Insects of the World • Insects, Bugs, and Butterflies • WAY Better Than Good • Realm of the Insect • PLANET EARTH WILDLIFE AND NATURE • 6,000 Views Unlimited 6000 • Insects, Spiders, Frogs, Snails and Slugs • US Wildlife • .: Dragonfly & Damselfly Addicts :. • Porfolio Nature • MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/5.7, 1/640 sec, 100mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Aperture:	f/5.7
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	100mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	ACDSee Pro 6
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