Best of 2014: July

                 

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens)

It is entirely appropriate that one dragonfly shot should make it into the Best of 2014! I love shooting these creatures. They are the jewelry of the insect world. Butterflies have a softer beauty, IMHO. Drangonflies are all a-glitter, some with gold filigree woven into their wings and bodies seemingly carved from precious metals.

And I love attempting to capture them with a camera. Depending on the species, that can be no small feat. I actually have a number of excellent dragonfly shots from 2014, but this one makes in into the year in review because it is a Wandering Glider.

Wandering Gliders rarely perch. I have sought to capture them in flight often, and occasionally gotten an acceptable shot. But the ratio of clicks to acceptable shots is about 20 to 1!

But on a hot Sunday afternoon while returning from leading worship at St. Andrew's in Mer Rouge, La., I stopped to explore the edge of a fallow field. And in the shade of trees along the fence line, this female Wandering Glider finally posed for me.

BTW, if you, too, are fascinated by dragonflies, you might enjoy a visit to Odonata Central, a database constructed by the University of Texas at Austin to make available "what we know about the distribution, biogeography, biodiversity, and identification of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) world-wide."

I have submitted 33 records to the database, each consisting of a photograph and notes about location and species. To view my records, follow this link to Odonata Central, click on the "Records" tab, select my name from the "User Filter" drop-down menu, then click "Apply Filters."