Blue Tail Fly

My Florida Backyard teems with the circle of life, and though we love to observe creatures as they go about their daily business, there can be benefits to finding one whose time is done. It provides the ability to safely observe them up close, admiring details you might not see when they're in motion.

The other day, we found this massive dragonfly dangling from an old spiderweb and took the opportunity to get some great pictures.

Dragonflies are one of nature's "beneficial insects", as they dine on pesky mosquitoes and other little bugs. They seem to come in endless colors (hot pink is our favorite) and sizes, and this was one of the biggest we'd ever seen, part of the group we like to call "747 dragonflies". We felt privileged to have a chance to examine it up close.