Dragons and fish and turtles

We have a nice variety of dragonflies in the backyard that can often be seen perched on twigs and plants near the canal.  Today, one of my favorites, a blue dasher dragonfly, came by.  They have a nice face with big blue-green eyes, and a nose and mouth,  or so it appears.  Today's specimen must have had a few difficult encounters and did not come out on top of the battles as he is missing a portion of one of his wings.  Dragonflies have a very short, but pretty violent life, as they contend for mates.

There must be a story here.

 

In the canal just below the dragon, the bowfin pair was still swimming around together though their numerous kids seem to have left and gone out on their own.  

The big guy swims among the floating vegetation.

 

Also in the water, a nosy turtle kept popping his head up to see what was happening.

What's going on out here?   Got any food?

 

 

A great egret stopped by for some fishing in his favorite spot across the canal.  When he flew away, he flew so slowly that I could get a photo of him in flight.  He has an amazing wingspan.

Flying away after dinner.  See you tomorrow!

We continue to have way too many iguanas in the backyard.  Today a very alert pair rested in the grass.

A guy and his girlfriend are on high alert in the grass.

 

She just noticed that I was looking at her, and wasn't pleased.

 

All the birds that come by to eat the seeds I toss on the ground and put in the feeder can be a little messy and sometimes drop them along the canal bank.  So right now we have a crop of millet growing on the bank.  When it ripens, the birds can stop by and get some really fresh produce for a change instead of the bagged supermarket stuff.

Millet plant should provide some yummy fresh seeds for the birds.

My dahlia plant on the patio is finally starting to open.  It has been a slow process to get to this point and I'm really looking forward to seeing it in full bloom.

Making its first attempt to open.

Finally, I've been trying for two weeks to entice a monarch butterfly to lay eggs.  I put out two milkweed plants with nice flowers for them to visit.  It used to be the case that I would have eggs within a day or two.  There seem to be no monarchs around at all, and I wonder what happened.  I'll keep trying.  I have lots of milkweed to feed them now, and I want to make use of it.  Stay tuned...