The Dragons

While there is, no question, beauty in some man-made things, they pale in comparison to those of Mother Nature. A night time city skyline may sparkle like jewels on the horizon but when it comes to the real jewels they are right here in our own back yards.

There are 5,900 species of dragon and damselflies world-wide, nearly 200 species appearing in Massachusetts, some 100 species on Cape Cod, and around 34 species only to be found on the Cape in the State of MA.

Last Summer I got to know some of these crown jewels of Mother Nature and fell in love with them.

Talk about beautiful! From the smallest and most subtle to the largest and showiest, they fascinated me. And I got to know some of them, personally. But it was only after they were gone that I began to try to find out some of their names.

By names, I mean the names of their species, since I was calling mine; Vivian, Merle, Oberon, Annabelle, Sir Edward etc. I know it sounds a bit crazy but these guys became friends and simply cried out to be named. They would land and perch themselves, while hunting, on my knee and shoulder. I found I could pick some of them up on my finger and look them straight in the eyes.

At other times they would sit on the railing and observe me. How could I tell? They would cock their heads and move them as I moved. They would slip themselves into my flower pictures, follow me in the garden or dance for me in the wind.

And some were, what I can only call, hams!

I watched them hunt and sun themselves and if I didn't know any better I would have thought them cousins to the raptors, birds of prey. They are, of course, predatory like the raptors but insects, not birds! Still, there is a lot of similarity aside from their flying abilities (some dragonflies can fly up to 53 mph). They use stealth to hunt,  and often camouflage themselves on the leaves and flowers taking unsuspecting prey by surprise and some migrate. They also have, like the raptors, incredible eyesight.

In November I missed them. A few of my flowers were still blooming in the garden but all of my beautiful dragons were gone. Still, there was the Internet and all of that research to do. For instance I learned that there are migrational studies being done on dragonflies at many hawk watch and other sites in the North East. Researchers are actually fitting some of the larger species like the Green Darner with tiny transmitters! 

On-line you will find some awesome sites devoted to dragon and damselflies. Check them out! And there are links to some spectacular photographs.

Now it is May, the dragons are returning and I find I would rather follow them with my camera than a field guide. So, I may never really be able to identify them with their scientific names but who cares, they are my friends and all I really want to say now is, welcome home, Vivian, Merle, Oberon, Annabelle, Sir Edward and all.

Let's dance!