Red Dragonfly

I happened to be out at my favorite pond at the very back of the first nature park I ever visited. I was after a few pictures of some ducks that were at the far away forbidden end of the pond. While I was walking over there through the weeds I found something completely different.

What I found was a butterfly flying around. It was a small orange butterfly with black spots. It kept landing on plants and then flying away too fast for me to get a picture. Then it met up with another of its kind and they began flying circles around each other like all butterflies like to do. That's when I saw my ultimate prize!

It was this red dragonfly you see in these pictures. I believe it is called a Red Skimmer, but I could be completely wrong about that. I really don't know much about dragonflies yet, except for the fact that they eat those evil nasty mosquitoes! That's right! Dragonflies are our friends.

The great thing about this dragonfly was that when I first saw it, it was still in the air flying around and enjoying the day. It hovered in several places, but I just wasn't fast enough with my camera to capture it for all to see that way. I'd love a shot like that!

As if the kind little creature understood what I wanted, it landed on this old flower top. This gave me the perfect opportunity to get a few quick shots of it before it flew away. But the great thing was that it didn't fly away yet. It stayed right there until I was satisfied. I got some decent pictures before it flew into the air.

I knew my pictures were only passable, but I was happy. I took some faraway shots of the ducks that didn't turn out very good, and then turned to leave. That's when my little dragonfly friend decided to land right back on the same flower to give me another chance.

When I began again, my pictures were so blurry it hurt. But then I figured out the right way to get the focus and I began getting more pictures. These pictures are some of those. My friend the dragonfly even let me move right in close so I could get the best shots possible.

I guess he wanted to be an internet star just like the squirrels and the geese. I'm glad I broke a few rules and went where I wasn't supposed to go. Otherwise I would never have made friends with this little red dragonfly. Of course, I checked to make sure it was safe before I went to that forbidden place. Ahhh, I really like dragonflies!

I seem to be running a little behind with everything again. It's not a big deal. I just need to catch up with things. I'm finding so many things in nature right now that I'm feeling overwhelmed. I just have trouble writing when I have so many things swirling through my mind. I guess it's actually a problem we all would like to have. How do I write about the birds I found when there are tiny toads to mention, or even a fascinating story about the geese! I'll just have to find a way. Woe is me!

The Chipmunk Is Found

In yesterday's game I asked you t0 find the chipmunk. I tried to trick you into thinking there were more than one, but there was only one chipmunk and you all did very good in finding it. I circled where the chipmunk is located in red so you will know for sure where it is. You can click the picture to see it better.

I want to thank everybody who played the game. I hope you had fun. This one was probably the easiest one I've done so far. I'll make the next one a little more challenging, but not too much. That should increase the fun just a little bit.

Now I want to list all of the participants up to this point, along with links to their blogs if they have them. If you aren't on the list yet, and you guessed before I posted the answer, I'll add you as soon as I can. Please everybody click on some of these names, especially the ones you don't know, and take a look at their blogs. You might find a very good new friend.

kruel74 Bemused26 SquirrelQueen Mountain Woman Icy BC armeda Ann Jude JStantonChandler	PJ rainfield61 Unseen Rajasthan VanillaSeven Shinade aka Jackie Poetic Shutterbug Ginnymo Julia Rose Ragai

These are all of the participants. Some have more than one blog, but I've only put one in their links. You can find the others yourself. Please go visit at least one or two unfamiliar names. You'll be very happy you did. Some of these are among my oldest internet friends, and some I am just getting to know, and they all have excellent blogs.

Now on to some good pictures of the very same chipmunk that was so kind as to be the subject of this little contest. Since I already gave you a lot to read, and more if you go to some of these other blogs, I won't torture you with a big story this time. I'll just show you the pictures of this friendly little chipmunk that I promised.





Thanks everybody!