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We now interrupt all talk about birds and migration to consider dragonflies. And damselflies. Together they comprise Ondonata, an order of insects that, like birds, are beautiful in flight and challenging in identification. Unlike birds, they do not vocalize; unlike butterflies, they are totally predatory, not a vegetarian amongst them. When I was a kid, [...]

A friend of a friend named Daryl Cavallaro took this stunning shot of a Merlin snagging a snack recently at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.  Bonus points to anyone who can identify the dragonfly.  The photo is copyrighted to Daryl and, no, you can’t use it without permission. Merlin with dragonfly by Daryl Cavallaro (click [...]

Digiscoping is really hard. Isn’t that what everyone keeps saying? That it is almost impossible to get a good quality shot. That it is only really for record shots of something sitting still. Digiscoped with a Swarovski STM80 HD, TLS800 and Nikon D300s. Click images to enlarge Well, the winners of the Digiscoper of the [...]

Unrest and revolution in Egypt has caught the international headlines this week. Mubarak’s ousting has left a military regime holding the reins until the country can catch its collective breath and organise elections in 6 months or so. My visit to Cairo was abbreviated and to attempt any sort of outing with binoculars and camera [...]

I spent a great day on Saturday, 29 May, visiting a variety of parks in Orange County and Rockland County in downstate New York with a fellow Queens birder, Seth, and a Rockland County birder, Gene.  Though, really, to call either of them “birder” doesn’t give a complete picture of what they are about considering [...]

On a recent birding outing around Forest Park the birds had made themselves scarce but the bugs were out in force.  So I made lemonade from lemons (maybe not the best metaphor when dealing with bugs) and focused my camera on the six-legged set, in particular on a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis).  This particular dragonfly [...]

My first birding excursion to Mendon Ponds, as reported earlier in the week, was an outstanding introduction to the abundant avifauna of my new stomping grounds. As a bonus, the bugs were pretty cool too. Every invertebrate seemed to be on the move but, like John at Born Again Bird Watcher, I was singing the [...]

During this past summer whenever I was outdoors and the birds weren’t showing I took pictures of the dragonflies that I spotted. I’ve managed to identify some of them but I am certainly not an expert. As I’ve mentioned before, they are “a serious identification challenge and figuring them out is an interesting, though frustrating, [...]

Just like butterflies, I honestly don’t know much about dragonflies. They look cool, they don’t bite people except maybe if you are handling them, and this past Sunday one was flying around, trying to catch and eat the deerflies that were trying to eat me and my fellow birders. Here is the coolest picture I’ve [...]

Though I’m interested in all aspects of natural history, my focus these days is (obviously) on birds. Still, I’ve always been very interested in invertebrates, particularly dragonflies. My usual practice is to take a picture of any fascinating specimen that sits still long enough to allow it in the hope that one day I’ll be [...]