Teneral Widow Skimmer being eaten by a Cedar Waxwing
Jul 17, 2022 20:21:26 #
These birds were grabbing lots of dragons. Everytime I disturbed a dragon and it flew, there was a waxwing hovering near me to get it. I never knew they could hover, but a waxwing flew a couple of meters from me and waited three feet off the ground hovering in place for his meal. When the dragons are teneral, they can't fly well and kind of flutter around for short distances, making them easy prey for the birds.
I swear they were watching me and waiting for me to flush out the dragons.
That last bird was daring me to do something about it.
I swear they were watching me and waiting for me to flush out the dragons.
That last bird was daring me to do something about it.
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Teneral Male Eight-spotted Skimmers
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Jul 17, 2022 20:45:02 #
Birds gotta eat, but one wishes it wasn't the dragons ... great images of everyone!
Jul 17, 2022 20:51:24 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
Birds gotta eat, but one wishes it wasn't the dragons ... great images of everyone!
Thanks! You and me both. However, for something that hasn't really changed much in millions of years, I'm betting the dragons will survive. Now if they had stayed big, with a 2-3 foot wingspan, the birds would be in trouble.
Jul 17, 2022 20:53:41 #
Jul 17, 2022 21:09:03 #
Jul 17, 2022 21:28:30 #
Muddyvalley wrote:
Thanks! You and me both. However, for something that hasn't really changed much in millions of years, I'm betting the dragons will survive. Now if they had stayed big, with a 2-3 foot wingspan, the birds would be in trouble.
Ok, nice. But if a waxwing was hovering a couple of meters from you why are there no photos of that?
Jul 17, 2022 21:32:36 #
SuperflyTNT wrote:
Ok, nice. But if a waxwing was hovering a couple of meters from you why are there no photos of that?
Too close, not enough time, 100-400mm telephoto lens. It happened a couple of times & I was never able to get it framed, much less focused. I may go out another time with someone else farther away to shoot it if I'm lucky enough to have it happen again.
Jul 17, 2022 21:33:09 #
Jul 17, 2022 21:33:24 #
Jul 17, 2022 21:48:45 #
Jul 17, 2022 22:05:07 #
Jul 17, 2022 23:48:12 #
jrvinson45 wrote:
I have never seen a Cedar Waxwing that actually looked evil before…wow!
I had the same thought!
Jul 17, 2022 23:49:40 #
lukevaliant wrote:
every shot is amazing,,great work!
Very nice of you to say that. Thank you!
Jul 18, 2022 00:09:19 #
Jul 18, 2022 00:13:35 #
bikinkawboy
Loc: north central Missouri
Don’t feel too sorry for the dragon flies. In their larval form, they are at the top of the macro invertebrate food chain in streams. They go to town on mayflies and caddisflies. Those two species are indicators of heathy streams while dragon fly larvae can live not only in healthy streams, but in unhealthy stream where hardly anything else can live.
I did a lot of Stream Team work with school kids. Incidentally, healthy streams are often muddy or dingy while nearly dead streams located in cities are crystal clear. They are so clear because nothing, not even dragon fly larvae can live there. Think of a dead city, wide open streets with no cars or people cluttering up the streets and sidewalks. A healthy city has people, traffic and noise.
I did a lot of Stream Team work with school kids. Incidentally, healthy streams are often muddy or dingy while nearly dead streams located in cities are crystal clear. They are so clear because nothing, not even dragon fly larvae can live there. Think of a dead city, wide open streets with no cars or people cluttering up the streets and sidewalks. A healthy city has people, traffic and noise.
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