And not just birds! Spring begins in March in Louisiana. By April, things are popping out all over. Flowers, of course. But also dragonflies and damselflies. It’s a great time to be outdoors.

April 10, 2022 – The great damselfly emergence happened a few feet in front of my lens! Actually, I’m pretty certain it was happening all over Black Bayou Lake, not just in front of my lens. But that doesn’t make it less special to me that I captured four damselflies in different stages of emergence in one shot!

For those who might not know, damselflies hatch from eggs deposited in the water and spend the first part of their life as “niads” that swim around and feed voraciously. When ready, their legs pop out of the exoskeleton first, they crawl up on something reasonably solid (in this case, plant detritus), their exoskeleton cracks down the back and they crawl out.

In the photo, the damselfly farthest to the right and the one farthest to the left are fully emerged but still too wet to fly. It’s impossible to be sure from the photo, but I think the one to the left is the “oldest” because the exoskeleton has fallen completely away, probably back into the water. If you look closely, you can see the empty exoskeleton under the one to the right.

Now look just behind the damselfly to the right. Lower on the plant stem is a third damselfly that is still in the process of coming out of the exoskeleton. You can see that its wings have not yet unfurled and you can see the exoskeleton still covering part of its abdomen. Finally, look below the damselfly to the left and you will see a dark brown segmented looking creature with bulbous eyes and legs protruding from the thorax. That’s the fourth damselfy that has just crawled out of the water. The exoskeleton does not appear to have begun splitting down the back yet; only the legs have popped out.

This is the kind of fascinating stuff a kayak can get you close to!

April 22, 2023 – I spent two days on the Gulf Coast participating in the Louisiana Master Naturalists annual Rendezvous, so I have LOTS of bird photos. This one is special because it is my first ever sighting of a Sandwich Tern. Moreover, I am quite proud of the shot: perfect focus, perfect depth of field, perfect exposure–of a bird in flight! And the bird came from behind me, so I managed to get only two frames while it was in range. I have come to truly appreciate the speed and accuracy of the auto-focus on a digital camera.