I call this black dragonfly a “Night Fury” because I had been trying to get a photo of it for over a week — it had not let me get close enough to it until I climbed into the bamboo patch just before sundown and waited for it to land close enough to focus on it. The other two dragonflies in this series were very cooperative, as usual, but the Night Fury refused to land anywhere in the open outside the bamboo patch.
The forecast for Corrales was for a high of 94º F on Sunday. Our thermometer showed a wind chill of 101.3º F at 3:00 pm. On Saturday the thermometer was reading 105º F, but since I had it mounted on a post close to the pump house, I suspected it might be picking up reflected heat; so I moved the thermometer to a post in the middle of nowhere on the property, and mounted at 6 feet of the ground, so the 101.3º F should be pretty accurate. The other two photos are cobweb covered stuff in the shed.
Lilies peeking out of the shadows.
Insect games with a grasshopper, damselfly and stinking squash bug.
Playing peekaboo with a grasshopper.
Wild turkey hanging out on the neighbor’s wall.
When I went out at 2:00 am to let in the irrigation water, this spider had built her web on the gate. A smaller male was hanging out off to the side.
A black and yellow dragonfly showed up. It was timid at first, but finally let be get close enough to get some clear shots. There was another dragonfly that looked to be all black, but it never let me get close enough to see what color rally was.
This is the first lily to bloom in our oriental lily garden. Although I think it may be one of the Easter lilies I planted a couple of years ago.
“Do you, by chance, have anymore rats?” Blue was hunting, and giving me her “please feed me” looks while I was working on the darkroom. I just fed her last week, but it’s been warm, so she thinks she ready for a couple more rats. She’s not always the best model because when she’s out of her cage she won’t hold still — always looking for some trouble to get into — but she was really getting into some great poses between her begging, being pitiful and acting cute. Tristan came up with the title.
