Showing posts with label pond. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pond. Show all posts

8/26/12

Dragonfly

I love dragonflies.



I don't know what it is about them, but I'm drawn to their beauty and their flight, which is why I wrote the faeries in my Goblin's Apprentice stories use dragonfly glamour to hide from humans.

This summer, we have had small black dragon, small blue dragons, large green/blue dragons and this beauty hanging around our pond and pool.

red dragonfly on Thalia

When I first saw this dragon, I was at my kitchen desk and looked out the window. Out of the side of my eye, I saw what I thought was a freaking monster red wasp. But then I realized this thing was a neon orange dragonfly. Another one joined him in a dragon dance. The second dragon was slightly duller in color and a little fatter in the tail (sorry, forgot the scientific name for that part--abdomen, maybe?). I assume that a little "nudge, nudge, know what I mean, know what I mean" was going on and I'd have a fresh batch of eggs in the near future.

A few days later--after I discovered my daughter's camera--he visited again.

Wow, look at that gorgeous color.

This is basically a point and shoot Nikon CoolPix camera and I know it won't take totally awesome pictures. Using paint to open the picture, I can crop it and look at it in greater detail. Yes, you can expect more pictures in future blogs, though I doubt I will ever get a good one of a Scissortail catching bugs!

The fun thing about this dragon was that he watched my every movement as I tried to get a good shot without falling into the pond!

"Beautiful creatures, dragons."

Later, Peeps

5/7/12

Our New Friend

Over the last few weeks, we have had a visitor to our pond--luckily, it wasn't the Great Blue Heron this time around! I think our koi are too big for it to comfortably eat one.

It was this little fellow.
Herbert
It's actually a toad (bumpy, rough skin). Hubby and Kidlet were outside by the fire when he started up. He allowed them to pick him up, place him on the rock and didn't seem to mind the flashlight shining on him! This picture was taken the night of the super moon--which I slept through--and I slept through Herbert's chorus of "I wanta girl. Not just a girl. But a girl like Mom". I was sick (cold, upper respiratory gunk) and tired (I had gotten up at 3:30 that day to take the kidlet to a swim meet in OKC)!

Trust me, sleeping through Herbert's chorus is fairly remarkable because for such a little guy, he's very, very loud! Size-wise, he's probably about 2-inches long, head to rump. Our bedroom window is around the corner and we can clearly hear him every night.

Though he's noisy, I don't mind him. I actually like frogs, toads and lizards, because they eat bugs. And with the pond and garden, we have lots and lots of bugs!

Enjoy Herbert's chorus . . . you might want to turn the volume down though.

Oh, the added, "ribbit, ribbit" is from the hubby 'encouraging him to sing', and my kidlet is mumbling in the background.

Later, Peeps!