Senior College Dragonfly Class in Anacortes

Hi Everyone,

Betsy and I had a great time presenting the Dragonfly Class for the Senior College in Anacortes. We finished yesterday afternoon with a discussion of Splash-Dunking and Spin-Drying.

We also showed a trailer for the Happy-face Dragonfly movie. Some of you were hoping to see it again, and possibly share it with friends, so here's a link to it on YouTube:

Happy-face Trailer

In addition, here's a link to the Dragonfly Whisperer Channel on YouTube:

Dragonfly Whisperer Channel

You will find many more dragonfly videos there, including many that were presented in class.

Thanks again for your enthusiastic participation, and we hope to see you next summer on a dragonfly field trip.

Happy Dragonflying!

It's Still Dragonfly Season!!!

Well, when the sun comes out, so do the dragonflies. Betsy and I went to Cranberry Lake today around noon, and were greeted by a nice group of dragonflies—even though it was quite breezy. The temperature was delightfully mild too; in the mid 60s.

We immediately saw lots of Autumn Meadowhawks. This species has a beautiful red color, and is so friendly that they land on you if you stay put for more than half a minute or so. Here are a couple that visited with us:

We also saw a single Variegated Meadowhawk, which we've never seen at Cranberry Lake before. This species can pop up just about anywhere, just about any time of the year:

We also saw the usual darners for this time of year—the Shadow Darner and the Paddle-tailed Darner. Here's a Paddle-tailed Darner, resting in the bushes, soaking up the sun:

Here's another:

What a lovely day at the lake, made even more so by the presence of our friendly neighborhood dragonflies.

The Whisperer Speaks!

I'll be giving a talk tomorrow at the Garden Club on Samish Island. Should be a lot of fun.

Here's the handout for the talk:

See you there tomorrow!

Happy Tenth Birthday

An important day in my development as a Dragonfly Whisperer was October 22, 2006, when I took the first photo of the Happy-face Dragonfly at Cranberry Lake in Anacortes, WA.  I was just trying to get a good macro shot of the Paddle-tailed Darner's head, and had no idea what a delightful happy face it has until I brought the photo home and viewed at it on my computer.  That was ten years ago, and was the impetus for my continuing interest in dragonflies.

Friendly Dragonflies

This is the time of year when two of my favorite dragonflies are out in force – the Paddle-tailed Darner (Happy-face Dragonfly), and the Autumn Meadowhawk.  In the following picture I whispered a Happy-face Dragonfly onto my finger, and in the meantime a few Autumn Meadowhawks decided to join me and land on my leg.  Such friendly dragonflies!

It's wonderful to see these dragonflies together in the same picture – especially when the Happy-face Dragonfly likes to prey on the Autumn Meadowhawks.  It's doubtful the darner sees the perched Autumn Meadowhawks as potential prey items, since it likes to hunt flying prey on the wing, but it's interesting to have the lion lay down with the lambs in any case.

Latest Version of the Vitruvian Dragonfly

Here's the latest version of da Vinci's classic illustration:

I just love this dragonfly, the Paddle-tailed Darner, aka the Happy-face Dragonfly.  Such beautiulf colors and patterns.

A New Vitruvian Dragonfly

In the past, I put together a stick figure version of the Vitruvian Man – only in my case it was done as a dragonfly.

It's based on the Happy-face Dragonfly, also known as the Paddle-tailed Darner, and is taken from a photo, ensuring that the proportions are correct.

I recently commissioned a wonderful artist, Sabine Deviche, to do a professional version of the Vitruvian Dragonfly.  Here's the result, which is just beautiful:

I love the details in the wings, and everything else about the drawing as well.  It has a very classic feel to it.