Saturday, November 1, 2008

Blue For You

This week's PhotoHunt theme is 'blue' and it wasn't too hard to find a photo with blue in it. The trouble was I have too many with blue. So which should I use?

Well, for pure color in nature I think it is hard to beat dragonflies and damselflies. I've always been amazed by the sharp and brilliant blues, reds, and greens one can see in these little flying marvels. Not surprisingly, many dragons and damsels have common names which include their color. Who can resist those vivid names such as Blue-fronted Dancer, Yellow-legged Ringtail, and Orange Shadowdragon.

Even their group names are fun with names like Darner, Skimmer, PetalTails, and Cruisers. And damselflies even have a whole group known as Bluets.

So damselflies it is.

I have found that it is very difficult to identify some of the damsels and dragons, however. There are well over 400 species in the USA alone. (There are over 160 found in our state and probably over 100 in our particular area.) And for each species the male and female may be significantly different in color or some other aspect.

Plus, the juveniles may be even a different color and will change gradually as they mature over their relatively short life stage. When you add all that up and consider that not all the damsels and dragons will necessarily look like the 'specimen' photo's in a field guide you can see that making the correct identification would often be difficult for the layperson.

In any event, it would appear that we will be having plenty of opportunities to check out the damselflies in coming years based on the activity in the following photo's. These are damselflies laying eggs in the shallow water along the edge of the pond. As you can tell we have a healthy population with the promise of more to come.


You can find more participants in the hunt at .

49 comments:

  1. Wow...that is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I've noticed a large increase in the dragonfly activity around my place over the last week or so. I admit I'm at a loss about identification! Maybe I'll just settle for taking the occasional snap, if I'm lucky enough to find one sitting still!

    I've gone "Blue" on several different levels - please stop by if you get the chance!

    http://flamingofotos.blogspot.com

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  3. beautiful shots

    My PH entry this week : in HERE and HERE. Hope you have time to visit . Thanks

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  4. Holy WOW! I am so sleepy but when I saw those photos made my eye awake again! :D Really stunning shots,Baker!

    Mine are upHERE and HERE. If

    you get a chance ;) Happy Photo Hunting!

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  5. I'm glad to have stopped by here. Have learned a lot on damselflies. My daughter love all your pictures.

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  6. Wonderful pictures for this week! Well done! :)

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  7. What superb photos of such beautiful insects. Magnificient

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  8. oh wow! i just love dragon- and damselflies :) stunning shots of them and they are of gorgeous shade of blue!

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  9. Their colour is SO beautiful. How did you get one to pose so still for you?!!

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  10. So its a damselfly? I used to catch these insects when I was younger. Haven't seen one like that for a long time. I remember we used to call these "tutubing karayom" in Filipino meaning "dragonfly needles" :)

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  11. These colours are incredible. I never realised they could be SO bright. The ones I have seen before have been the darker colours. Thankyou for sharing these photos:)

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  12. Cute blue butterfly wow where did you took that? TC

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  13. Those are too cool! Great shots.

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  14. What beautiful vivid blue. Love this post. Their names are very poetic which fits because they really look like little fairy tale creatures.

    Have a nice weekend! Oh, I love your new header with the turtle

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  15. They're almost an electric blue- very pretty for a bug, too.October's Bright Blue Weather

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  16. That a very unique "blue" photo ... dragon flies are truly amazing, they way they fly is poetry in motion.

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  17. Stuning shot of blue dragonfly.
    Beautiful isn't it.
    Have a nice weekend.

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  18. WOW! Lovely shot of the damselfly! Mine is up here.

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  19. Great post and photographs for the blue theme. Very informative.

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  20. wow! those are really nice photos.
    here's my BLUE sky. Enjoy your weekend!

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  21. Great blue shots! I love dragon flies - they are so pretty yet mysterious.

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  22. Those colors are incredible! What terrific shots for the blue theme!

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  23. Absolutely amazing!!!!

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  24. Hi - back again. :) I have directed my students to your wonderful site. :)

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  25. I didn't know that their was that many damsel flies and dragons.
    Learn a lot from blogging.

    Coffee is on.

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  26. Unusual creatures, but brilliant colors. I don't think I have ever seen a blue one. Great work to get such clear photos of them!

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  27. Beautiful shots! That close-up is amazing for showing the patterns of blue.

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  28. Hello, I found you at Photo Hunt. This is just the kind of blog that I like to read! We are on a tiny lake. Stop by and visit our new blog at www.VintageLogCabin.blogspot.com We'd love to have you! I'm going to join in on the photo hunt.

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  29. Beautiful photos! I love to watch dragon/damselflies, although I never can remember the difference.

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  30. oh, i love those damselflies. this brought me to the times when I was a kid chasing these beautiful and brightly colored insects!

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  31. I am using internet explorer for your blog Baker. I love these photos and I took a few photos of blue ones, but didn't get them identified. Mine are all gone snow with the freeze and snow flurries...sigh...

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  32. What great pictures! I love the colors in nature - they are so much more brilliant than anything a person could create!

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  33. Unbelievably pretty creatures! That is almost a luminous blue! Great shots!

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  34. Wow You are certainly going to have a great population this spring! Thanks so much for sharing your pond with all. The color blue held miraculous meaning for me this week so your wording certainly caught my eye. Coincidence...never....

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  35. Thanks to all of you for visiting and for the kind comments. As always it is my intention to visit those who visit and comment here on the PhotoHunt posts. I'm running a bit behind this weekend but will try to get to everyone as soon as I can.

    And now for some replies to specific comments and questions.

    RJ Flamingo - I presume you have dragons and damsels year around - that must be cool - just be patient and watch their habits and I'm sure you will be able to get some good shots

    Lynn - It always makes me feel good when someone shares some of the pics with their children - I'm glad she enjoyed them

    Liz - Actually taking pics of damselflies are not really that hard if they are around the pond - The tend not to flit around as much as the dragonflies - But, many are so much smaller that it may be difficult to get close enough

    Forever Foster - They can come in a very wide array of colors - Just check some out on the net - They are amazing

    Annie - Yes - they are a bit like fairytale creatures - And all the names are so descriptive and fun

    Staci - Telling a dragonfly from a damselfly is generally easy based on the placement of the eyes and the way they hold their wings at rest - There is a short description of the major difference at:

    http://fishandfrog-turtleandblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/damsels-can-be-difficult.html

    Annie and Michelle - Thanks for noting the new header - That pic just happened to be my first PhotoHunt entry (belated though it was, lol)

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  36. Denise - thanks for the visit and the follow - I look forward to seeing you join in the PhotoHunt weekly

    Leslie - A special thanks to you for directing your students to the post for information on damselflies. I look forward to some of them dropping by and hope they enjoy the information and photo's.

    Baker

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  37. I didn't play this week (felt like crap) but today I feel a bit better so I thought I'd check your entry.

    Great job as always! I love that shade of blue. Oh I don't know if I sent congrats for the lazy feature great job on that as well!

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  38. your photos continue to amaze me! really great shots!

    i remember chasing dragonflies when i was a kid... :)

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  39. Nature sure is grand to produce a blue like that!

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  40. Gosh now they are blue Baker.....stunning blue......

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  41. Great choice of photos, Baker! I like the new header on your blog. I've got quite a few photos of the damsels ovipositing...but none of them look this good! By the way...I've got an award for you over at my Wishnik Woods blog! Have a good evening!

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  42. Very pretty, I love dragonflys

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  43. I especially like the first photo, the colors are wonderful.

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  44. It's incredible that living creatures could be such a fabulous color, isn't it? These photos are wonderful.

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  45. WOWOWOW!!!! What terrific shots!! They are amazing little critters.

    Thanks for visiting my Photo Hunt the week before. I am finally starting to catch up!

    Mrs. Mecomber
    http://newyorktraveler.net/photo-hunters-together/

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  46. Hi Baker,

    Love the damselfly photos! What a beautiful shade of blue. I haven't seen those before.

    Cindy, www.cindydyer.wordpress.com

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  47. wow these are great - glad i didn't miss them. i've only seen green ones around my place.

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Thanks for stopping by to visit our little pond. We would love to see you again real soon.