After I had filled my tank with barely sub-four-dollar gas in Waldwick, I looked up and saw some promising cloud formations. So I doubled back to the Celery Farm for a quick visit to Warden’s Watch. The clouds were interesting, if not spectacular (no calendar shots here).
Aside from the clouds, the platform railing was aflutter with male Common Whitetail dragonflies, as well as the pictured specimen, the only Odonate that cooperated for portraiture. I’m calling it a Unicorn Clubtail and I’m calling myself an expert, having glanced at a couple of books and websites. :-) A very nice gallery of clubtail portraits can be seen here. Tom Murray must be a very patient guy!
Aside from the clouds, the platform railing was aflutter with male Common Whitetail dragonflies, as well as the pictured specimen, the only Odonate that cooperated for portraiture. I’m calling it a Unicorn Clubtail and I’m calling myself an expert, having glanced at a couple of books and websites. :-) A very nice gallery of clubtail portraits can be seen here. Tom Murray must be a very patient guy!
Whatever the species, this insect packs a load of engineering into a relatively small chitin-wrapped package (but imagine the equally sophisticated equipment crammed into a fruit fly’s miniature airframe). We shouldn’t hesitate to swat a fly or mosquito, but as we do, we should reflect on the magnificence of the creature we are deconstructing. And there is certainly no reason to flatten dragonflies, as important to their ecosystems as they are. But that’s another story.
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