#darners

[kedreeva]

Ejected this guy from the hardware store for crimes (being trapped inside and sitting on my product I needed to buy) against humanity (me, specifically)

I'm happy to see so many of these guys around the last few years, even though they're literally always out to cause problems on purpose it seems.

[murnswhyte]

Darner dragonfly sitting on my parasol plant

[boonomorefilm]

Darn on Flickr.

[dailyodonate-blog]

You may wonder why I've posted a picture of a Gray Vireo (Vireo vicinior) today, a small bird and definitely not an odonate. I have a policy on this Tumblr blog of only posting Creative Commons licensed or public domain images. However, this spectacular series of images of a migrant Gray Vireo eating a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) is just too amazing not to at least link to. Jeff C. photographed this encounter in the Oxnard Plain of Ventura County, Southern California. It's pretty unusual for a vireo to attempt such large, combative prey--they are normally mostly gleaners. It may have been early in the morning, while the darner was still sluggish. Still, it seems to have put up a good fight, and the vireo looks quite pleased to have such a large meal. Vireo photograph by Seabamirum, licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).