Got my Lajitas fix

I get there early before it gets too hot and last about 2 hours before I'm ready to leave. Wish I could last longer. Maybe next time. Had fun photographing dragonflies though. I'm thinking this cottonwood tree is where they burned a lot of brush this spring. Really looks ugly. Hope they learned a lesson from that.

 Here are a few odonate photos that I liked from today. Nothing unusual. No lifers. There's only a little over 320 dragonfly species (plus 138 species of damselfly) in all of North America, so I can't expect lifers without traveling around a lot. I really love watching them though. If I just look at the whole picture and not each individual dragonfly, the place is teeming with them. As best I can reckon, I lack seeing about 17 odonate species that are common to uncommon in the Big Bend area. After that, I'll have to travel if I want to get lifers. I probably don't want lifers that bad.

This first dragonfly photo from today is of a very common species, Blue Dasher. I have lots of them at CMO also.

Next is a male Eastern Ringtail.

Next is another very common species at Lajitas but not seen at CMO, Checkered Setwing.

This next one I took on my way home when I stopped by the Study Butte sewage treatment facility. This damselfly flew into my car (best shade around on a very hot day). When I got it shooed out it perched on the door frame. So pretty. It's a female Desert Forktail.

Hummingbird banding tomorrow.