Las Libélulas

Flame Skipper

I have many favorite words in Spanish.  Today, here's one of them.  "Lee-bay-loo-lah".  Now go ahead, say it outloud. It's fun, isn't it?  It's your Spanish word for the day and our photo theme.  Some of us love getting pics of birds or butterflies or people.....but the one thing I think I've seen in almost everyone's post is the magic of a dragonfly.  It's the one unifying factor of the blogger world.  No matter how hard I try not to film them, it always seems to backfire.......because quite simply, they are amazing.  These shots were taken from June up until now.  For more fun info on them, check out Jill's post on their historical significance with people.

Blue Dasher

Mexican Amber Wing

Blue Dasher

12 Spotted Skimmer

Common Whitetail Skimmer

Swoop! There It Is!

Common Whitetail Skimmer

We had visited the Woodland Dunes during the winter months this past year so I thought it would be great to revisit this place during the summer.  

Tree Swallow

On this visit, I couldn't help but notice all the Tree Swallows and Dragonflies.  There were so many of them flying around that I stood at one particular point and tracked their flight patterns.  They live here in Tucson, but they fly so high up into the sky that it makes photography a little tricky.

In fact, while on our trip to Wisconsin, I was able to observe all swallows close up.  There was the Barn, Tree, and Cliff Swallow.  But the one that shimmers above them all is the Tree Swallow.  As an amateur birder, I was faced with the challenge of identifying the differences between the Tree Swallow and Purple Martins.  It still takes me a sec to figure it out.

Red wing Blackbird

Red wing Blackbirds are everywhere.  And no matter how hard I try not to film them, I never succeed.  This particular bird was very territorial and squawking at my other half to get moving.  The bird followed Pat until the end of the pier.  And I followed with my camera from the good angle capturing him flying up and down. 

The Red Wing was so close that I got this great shot below!

Finally, there were so many butterflies around the area and I filmed this one below.  Why is it called a Snout?  Look closely at the front of the "face".  Butterflies, like birds, are amazing creatures.  They all are....every single one of them.  And that's what makes Woodland Dunes a great place to visit.  It's open to the public and it has many trails throughout the preserve.  It's off of 310/Hawthorne Ave. and one of the few last untouched areas of my hometown besides Point Beach State Forest.  These places look the same as they did when I was kid. 

American Snout Butterfly

Below is a shot from the butterfly garden at Woodland Dunes.  I feel safe here when I visit and it's one area that makes me happy.  If you ever make a stop in the Two Rivers/Manitowoc(aka the "Lakeshore Area"), stop and check this beautiful preserve out. More tomorrow....