When dragonflies and ducks attack

While fishing this weekend on Lindbergh Lake, a large and attractive dragonfly appeared and hovered around me for quite a while.   I tried to take pictures of it, which wasn’t easy because it kept zipping from one place to another.  I’m lucky I didn’t fall into the water while trying to get it framed.





The Helena Regulating Reservoir has a lot of ducks and pelicans.  These usually stay at a respectful distance, and shuffle off as I  troll past them.  But this weekend a large mallard drake suddenly appeared by my kayak.  Not just near my kayak, but right next to my kayak.  On many occasions I could have reached out and touched it.  After circling my kayak for a while, it would go bother somebody else.  But a half an hour later, it would return.  I think it had lived someplace where it got fed, and was hoping for a handout.  But perhaps its motivations were more sinister?  Watch the news for reports of a kayak fisherman found dead in his or her kayak, nibbled down to a skeleton by ducks.

The dragonfly looks like a female common green darner by your pics. They are the most efficient predators on this blue marble with a 98% success rate, and have been known to eat hummingbirds even. Really common, and totally bad ass bugs!! The pic is one I caught this summer.

Well, if we're sharing pics of dragonfly visitors while kayak fishing..

Well, if we're sharing pics of dragonfly visitors while kayak fishing..

That's a really col pic!! that big orange'ish blob on her tail are eggs. She'll fly around dipping that mass in the water in various locations of the lake/pond to give the nymphs a better chance of survival.

Sorry... I'm not really a big bug nerd, but I just finished an upper division biology class where we used dragon and damsel flies as our primary focus.

Despite being a huge fan of Dragonflies and Damsels, I don't have any pictures to share, but many compliments to all of the above posted pictures, to include Pete's pet Mallard.    As tidbits go, the Green Darner is the Washington State insect...damhik   

that's not a dragonfly, Pete. It's the newly weaponized micro drone from Jade Helm!!  

You didn't get visited yet by men in black suits yet, did you?

that's not a dragonfly, Pete. It's the newly weaponized micro drone from Jade Helm!!  

You didn't get visited yet by men in black suits yet, did you?

The duck may also be a cleverly disguised aquatic spy drone.  And I've disclosed the existence of both of these pieces of top-secret equipment by posting these pictures.  So if I suddenly stop posting things on this forum, you can figure that the Government snatched me up and has shipped me off to Guatanamo Bay.