dragonflies

The other day I was walking from one room to another in the late afternoon. I happened to glance outside and noticed a commotion. Something, some large group of somethings had gathered above the field in the back and was flying around like crazy. They were big and there were hundred of them. I thought they must be dragonflies, but some of them seemed very big from where I looked. It seemed possible that that they were small birds. Allyn said hummingbirds. I took the following photo and went outside to investigate.

You really can't make out much, but they are in the are 5-8 feet above the ground above the area of light shining on the pasture. They were dragonflies. When we got out there we could see what was going on. There was some kind of insect hatch happening in the field and the dragonflies were feasting on them. Again, there were hundreds of them. It looked like some of the insects were mating as they rose out of the field. Most of them didn't last long.

I know as much about dragonflies as I do about chicory. The Biophilia Foundation says that most dragonflies capture their prey in flight due to their extraordinary vision and flight ability. They are called the "Hawks" of the insect world. They can fly 35 mph and can fly backwards. Some dragonflies migrate (that was the one fact that I did know). Later in the year I see them gathering in the same field as they prepare for their southward journey. They buzz around the field in angular patterns, and for that reason they have always reminded me of bombers from the WWII era.