Anisoptera! Or the Dragonfly as you and I probably know it. I read that there are over 3000 different species of dragonfly, and if my wife has a say in it, we will take every single one’s photo. At times that can be overwhelming, sifting through 50 different dragonfly pictures, but once you find those few that “pop”, it’s easy to see why she loves taking their picture.
I tried to select the 5 different dragonflies that we were fortunate to get photo’s of on our trip to Tishomingo State Park in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. If you’re a little warped like I am, just the word Tishomingo brings to mind a funny movie: “O Brother Where Art Thou?” And just like George Clooney expressed in the movie about this very area, “Well, ain’t this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!” That’s how it felt in this quiet and beautiful state park.
Here we found two waterfalls, a natural spring, a suspension bridge, a winding river, and yes…a deluge of delightful dragonflies. In one spot there were literally 20 or so dragonflies buzzing all around us.
I thought about looking up the scientific name of each one of these specimens, but I think I’ll stick to simply calling them the Brown one, the Dark Blue one, the Bright Blue one, and the Green one. Seems easier. One of the “neatest” things I’ve noticed from our dragonfly pictures is that they always seem to be smiling. If you don’t believe me, just take a picture or two for yourself, enlarge it, and voila! You’ll see, as painter Bob Ross would have said, “a happy little dragonfly.”
So, take a moment…pull up Google…find a state park, a national forest, a neighbors pond, and go take a look. You could become an Anisoptera specialist! So get out there with us, take your own 3 Hour Trip and enjoy “Our Wonderful World!”
Don’t forget to leave me a comment…gotta pay the bills.
RM Goldsmith Photography 