July 2009

Dragonflies are good right? Yes – they eat those nasty summer pests while flitting about and seem to love sunning themselves. They have beautiful transluscent wings and come in a variety of sizes and colours.  Close up they are not so pretty . . . Today’s blog “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” features some close up photos of dragonflies dining on wasps and flies.

The photo above and photo below is of a Chalk-fronted Corporal.

Below:  Shadow Darner

Below:  Marsh Bluet – a small blue and black damselfly

NOW . . . for the UGLY.   Not really ugly or bad if you have an interest in spiders and such. They are very fascinating creatures if you stop and take a closer look.   This very large spider sighted on a dock.  Unfortunately you cannot get a feel for the size of the spider from the photo but I can tell you it measured about 5″ across from leg to leg. We just refer to them as dock spiders as I have always found them on docks in the midday sun. Most people I know have an aversion to spiders.  They won’t attack you but I do know they can  give a nasty bite and to people who are sensitive to any type of insect bite it can be painful, causing swelling and may require medical intervention.  One person I know of ended up in the hospital on an IV antibiotic drip from a spider bite. That is bad!

I believe this spider is known as the “dark fishing spider” of the family fishing/dock/nursery web spiders.

~Sharon

---

We are  into full bloom season and the wildflowers are just beautiful. Today, an assortment of flowers that grow locally.  This first photo is a close up of a Columbine flower.  They are usually in this colour range with single blooms hanging on delicate stems of the plant.

Below is a photo  of a delicate pink flower called Twinflower.  Likely named Twinflower because there are two blooms on each stem. They grow low to the ground and are about 8 inches high with the little pink bell flowers facing the ground.  It appears they like the shaded moist areas of the forrest more than open areas.

Next is a Milkweek or Swampweed which is getting ready to flower.   I’ll post photos of it when it blooms.  They are beautiful and hardy plants that attract Monarch butterflies.  Last year for some reason there were no butterfly larvae on the plant but the year before there were many Monarch larvae.  It was very interesting to watch the different stages of the Monarch life cycle.  Hummingbirds also are attracted to this plant.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

---

I love dragonflies not only for their delicate transluscent wings but because they eat those most nasty of summer pests – mosquitoes. Yesterday a swarm of dragonflies flew in – they were everywhere. Was it a hatch? Was it the city releasing dragonflies to assist in mosquito control – possibly. Anyway, I looked up in the sky and they kept coming and coming. A little unusual I thought but they were gracious enough to land and spend time in my garden area sunning themselves and most importantly sweeping up on the mosquitoes in mid flight. Many people collect items with dragonfly decor. These photos would enlarge very well.  Try “clicking” on an image  (2x)  to see a larger view – the wings are really beautiful.

I really liked the fact that the blue summer sky was the background in this photo.

This picture is a little deceiving – at first it looks like the twig has wings but you can see a little of the dragonfly body behind.

A few more . . .

Enjoy!

~Sharon

---