Birds and Nature

Here are two more odonata that I photographed over the week-end at the Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake NWR in New Mexico. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of the top locations for number of odonata species in the U.S. The top odonata is a Desert Whitetail Dragonfly. This pair of Common Green Darners just above are perched in tandem while the female deposits her eggs. Following is a great description from the Animal Diversity Web: "Once mating is complete, common green darners remain in tandem and oviposit in pairs. The pairs fly low over the water, with the male still grasping the female, and they land in the open to oviposit. They lay eggs on floating stems and leaves, including alive and dead material, as well as on woody branches." Fyi, the male is the brighter colored dragonfly and is in the front. SeEtta

Though it seems unlikely this Virginia Rail kept coming out almost into the open, seeming to be curious about me. Even if that was not the case it did provide me the opportunity to get these pics. There was a second Virginia Rail less than 25 feet from this one but it was busy hunting so moved to quick for any pics. SeEtta

This is a Black Saddlebags dragonfly and I think it is pretty cool looking. "Black saddlebags, although fairly common, are striking insects. The hind wings are long and wide, with irridescent black bands on the parts of the wings closest to the body. This gives them their common name "black saddlebags," because the black patches make them look like they're wearing saddlebags. The rest of the wing is clear." SeEtta

A photo of a pair of Common Green Darners in tandem as she oviposits. SeEtta