Are you ready for some new, exciting dragonfly pix? (and more stuff, too?)

I apologize for not being around Gather very much lately but, I've been busy over the last few days with historical society commitments, doing stuff for my mom and getting Hubby ready to head out for three days with his little "we-wanna-be-bikers" buddies for their annual trek to the "Redwood Run" in Garberville...

Ah, YESSSSS!!! Three WHOLE DAYS of peace and quiet!! Just me and the kitty-cat... HEAVEN... Pure HEAVEN!

Someone once asked me why I didn't go with my husband on the Redwood Run each year and I told them that I'd rather suck on a hot tailpipe than have to put up with him and his rowdy buddies -- camping next to loud, all-night party-ers and watching wet tee-shirt contests for three days... JEESH!

Anyhoo... I promised new dragonfly pix and we'll get to those but, first, I want to show you a photo I took of two "Harrier Hawks"...

When I first noticed them, they were "tumbling" down in the air from a pretty high altitude -- coming together and separating as they swooped down -- in what I thought must be a "fight" or a mating behavior but I have since learned that the male harrier brings prey to the nesting female by DROPPING IT as he flies over her and then SHE CATCHES IT in MID-AIR! Is that AMAZING or WHAT?

Here they are, flying side by side, after their little display of aerial acrobatics:

And here's a close-up that I was lucky to get of one of the little "oak titmice" as it paused for a drink out of Hubby's birdbath:

Cute, huh?

Here's a kind of unusual bird -- not rare but seldom really noticed... It's a member of the "Great Crested Flycatcher" family:

I can't resist throwing in a couple of photos here of my "Canterbury bells"... They're in full bloom right now... This variety is called "Cup and Saucer" and that's just what the "female" blooms look like! See?:

Just for comparison, here's a "male flower" of the same variety:

I'm so proud of them! I grew them FROM SEED! :o)

I think the following "scrub jay" has been raiding one of the acorn woodpecker's stashes -- the little thief! ;^)

Here's a little fellow that I only saw for just a few minutes and I've never seen it before... I think it's some sort of "warbler", but I'm still trying to identify it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Would you look at those LONG LEGS?!

Here's another of our cute, little local birds -- it's called a "bushtit":

The bushtit is a TINY bird -- only about 3 inches long, if that!

Okay... Okay... As promised, here are the dragonfly pix:

This dragonfly is very different from the one I photographed before and showed you in my photo-essay entitled Sure... You could just ignore this photo-essay... Of course, then you'd MISS the DRAGONFLY photos! 

His wings are shorter and rounder and his tail has a rather bulbous tip... That's because it is actually a separate species called a "Damselfly". Here is a closer look at it:

Just for "good measure", I'm including a photo that I took of the waxing half-moon:

I LOVE how -- with the 10X optical zoom on my new Canon SX100si camera -- you can make out the craters!

Again, I apologize for having not been around in the last couple of days to read and comment on all of your articles and photos... Hopefully there won't be any more "minor emergencies" over the next couple of days and I'll have time to get around to see everybody's postings a little later in the day -- especially now that Hubby is gone for awhile... ;o)

luv,

jean