Odes (natch)

"Dude, Mr. Turtle's my father..."

No good pictures here. I had my bloody Olympus 1030SW which is great for candids and such but totally sucks for anything needing depth of field or shooting anything moving faster than a snail on a salt lick. So today, I'm taking the big guns with me.

But I did get a decent shot of a Twelve-Spotted Skimmer (Libellula puchella, male) and his female companion in a copulatory wheel (in mid air!), blurry but still cool.

And here's the proud papa, resting. I guess odonate sex is exhausting.

While he sat there, Mrs. Puchella was laying eggs. She swooped down and tapped her abdomen on the surface of the water and made a graceful circle. She must have laid 100 eggs in three minutes. Pretty cool.

Respectfully submitted,

Canoelover