This was taken on the Memorial Day weekend at Econfina Creek. Because Econfina is higher in elevation than it is near me, it is a fast running, springfed creek - it comes out of the springs crystal clear and colorless, turning that gorgeous aqua/turquoise color and as it enters the creek, it picks up tannin and starts darkening.
Down here, you can't see the bottom - it flows slow and deep, the color of coffee.
This is an American Rubyspot, and when it perches and flicks its wings which is its habit, that red spot is exposed and really is "ruby". It is one of our larger damsels. I imagine flashing that spot may entice the opposite sex. I am not absolutely sure of its sex but I think it may be a female.
Took the grandkids to this creek in the same spot two years ago. I got a picture of the same species but it wasn't close or clear enough. I use the LCD to focus, and I put the Sony T1 in a Pelican case so it won't drown (my score on this is 3 cameras) but let's not talk anymore about that!
The same twig was there. That's why I went looking for it last weekend. I just had a feeling. Certainly it wasn't the same - damsels have a short lifespan. But that I photographed both on the very same twig that comes up from a submerged log, blows my mind.
According to Dennis Paulson's book, "Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Southeast", it is just at or slightly south of its range.
It is a very agreeable male American Rubyspot and to a nature photographer who just LOVES bugs, a great find.
I would very much rather be straddling that log, losing myself in nature, than spending hours here at the keyboard, worrying about the future of a crumbling America and its first dictator.
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