Photos by Donna

While hanging around the boat docks with the Barn Swallows, I’ve also been trying my luck at the numerous dragonflies and damselflies that hunt the embankment.

Kudos to all you excellent insect photographers, these are not easy!  Quite frankly, after a ton of takes over several days, I scored only two shots of the Blue Dasher dragonfly.

Blue Dasher “Smiling”

Blue Dasher

They were shot with a 70-200mm telephoto lens and 1.7 teleconverter combo from about 4-5 feet.  I need to go back and work on these some more.

My “unusual combo” title also mentioned a Muskrat.

Yep, I had one come out from under the dock I was standing on while taking these dragonfly shots; it crossed the creek to swim alongside the bulkhead on the other side.

For over a month now, I’ve watched a muskrat going back and forth along the creek.  I’ve finally gotten some great shots of him/her up close, with this one displaying a beautiful water-play of reflections.

Muskrat

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.  It will never fail you.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright