Nah nah nah boo-boo, you can’t catch me: Heron & Dragonfly Redux
Great Blue Heron eye-to-eye with Dragonfly – babsjeheron
“So lovely. There were many dragonflies – tasty – and I love how their wings tickle on my tongue…” said the Great Blue Heron to nobody in particular.
Looking at the Dragonfly perched so enticingly on the tip of the Heron’s bill above, did you wonder if Dragonfly was on the lunch menu that day?
(Spoiler alert.)
See for yourself:
Dragonfly teasing Great Blue Heron – babsjeheron
Is it just me, or did you, too, hear a Dragonfly’s voice sing-songing that childhood playground taunt, “Nah nah nah boo-boo, you can’t catch me?”
And do you think it weird for a Dragonfly to tantalize a much larger Great Blue Heron? Cheeky Dragonfly!
Given the contrast in size of the Heron and Dragonfly, I wonder how many insects it would take to make a nourishing snack? Herons must consider Dragonflies tasty morsels.
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Great Blue Heron fledgling wondering where he put his glasses, erm Dragonfly – babsjeheron
“Now, where did I put my glasses, erm Dragonfly?” the Heron asked of no one in particular, wondering where his memory has gone. Often, I wonder where my own glasses have wandered off to. What about you?
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Dragonfly Hitchhiker on my kayak – babsjeheron
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File this one under silly nonsense just for fun!
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About today’s post: Today’s post is inspired by Denzil’s “Nature Photography Challenge #10: Dragonflies.” One of several earlier versions was produced in response to Ann-Christine’s Lens Artist prompt “Weird and Wonderful.”
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Frequent readers may know that I have been nearly blind for many months and so have been largely absent from WordPress blogs. Two days ago, I learned that instead of three retina laser surgeries, I will need only two – one for each eye. I’ll take that news as a win! Scheduling is still delayed, and until then, Patience is the word of the day.
Because of my near-blindness, I’m not able to link in my posts to the various host sites for WP challenges/tags in the way I have always done in the past, but please know that I value the sense of community here, especially among the Lens Artists, Cee Neuner, Debbie Smyth, BeckyB, Denzil, I.J., Restless Jo, Tofino Photography, and more, who all encourage the entire international network of photographers and writers. Sorry that I cannot link directly at this time – this is the best I can do for now.
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I do love a happy ending, and hope my eye surgeon delivers one for the Herons & me! Patience Grasshopper.
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TCAN One-Woman Show Lobby Wall
Great Blue Herons at TCAN Lobby One-Woman Show January & February 2022 – babsjeheron
Once again, the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the water’s surface graced gallery walls.
TCAN One-Woman Show January through February 2022 Lobby Wall With TCAN Sign Reflected; TCAN Stained glass art by Carol Krentzman, framed by Jay Ball
My Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. It was great to see so many of you there.
Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.
The Center for Arts Natick believes the arts are essential to a complete human experience and to the creation of a vibrant, healthy community. TCAN serves the Boston MetroWest region by increasing opportunities to experience, participate in, and learn about the arts. To this end, TCAN strives to present arts programs of the highest standard that are available to everyone. TCAN dedicates its resources to providing community access to diverse arts programs, reducing barriers to attendance, and building appreciation through arts education.
If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by TCAN to see the wonderful gallery displays of artworks by many talented visual artists, as well as excellent live music performances and stage plays. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
As always, many of my own photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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Natick Center Cultural District logo
Folks, now that some areas have opened back up in a new normal, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past THREE years and they still need your love more than ever.
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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Click here and here to learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – One-woman photography show through February 2022
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Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru January 3 2023
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Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
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Audubon Sanctuary
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Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
A Patience of Herons™
© 2003-2023 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick Center Cultural District, Dragonfly
Posted on April 29, 2023, in ardea herodias, Art, Birds, Kayaking, Nature, Odonata, Photography, Wildlife Photography and tagged # Lens-Artists, #LAPC, bird of the week, earth day, mindfulness, naturephotochallenge, Odonata. Bookmark the permalink. 113 Comments.
Babsje Heron 
Thank you so much for sharing, this made me smile, which I needed. I like the open mouth one. These are very rare shots, thank you so much for posting them.
Hi Damien – I’m so glad to hear the photos brought you a smile, thanks for letting me know.
Anytime. 🙂
Hilarious photos!
Hi there, so pleased you appreciate the humorous side of Herons!
I love a bit of silly nonsense, though I do love dragonflies too. What a dilemma 😅 💖
Hi Jo – I know what you mean about that dilemma – who to root for, Heron on Dragonfly? Predator or Prey? Glad you enjoy silly nonsense. Sometimes we all need some silliness in life.
😁💖
💕 😊
Those are great catches!!!
Thanks Steve! And speaking of great catches, I enjoy your own Frog Friday photos!
Oh those are just great Babsje, really wonderful.
Hi Denzil – Many thanks for the kind compliment, and also for hosting your excellent nature challenges!
What great captures. Fun too! Hope your surgery happens soon.
Hi VJ – glad to hear that you enjoyed this one. Thanks so much for your kind well wishes about my eyes.
Welcome
Wow, what a sequence! Great images.
Hi Anne – I know you’re a fan of birds, and thought you’d get a kick out of the lighter side of Herons. Thanks for your lovely compliment.
😊
Chuckles galore, especially with that first shot!
Hi Susan – Very pleased to have brought you some chuckles, thanks for the kind words. Maybe that Heronry near Boulder will have some chuckle-worthy things for you!
Absolutely delightful! I’ve sometimes seen dragonflies taking their ease on an alligator’s nose. I suppose in some ways it’s the safest lounging spot in the world. There’s not much chance that the alligator can get to it, and it may be that the same birds that would consider a dragonfly a fine snack would take a look at that gator and go elsewhere!
Exactly, I think you’re definitely right about perching on an alligator’s nose would be safe for an insect. Actually, I’ve read about a symbiotic relationship between gators and some other insect wherein the insects climb into the gator’s mouth and clean their teeth and gums…they are totally unharmed! Maybe insects aren’t high on the alligator menu?
The babies might eat them, but a full-grown gator sure would need something bigger!
Exactly!! You know what I get a kick out of? Those internet photos of Egrets standing on the back of gators and crocs!
that Dragonfly doesn’t know how lucky it was! I’d love to see a Humming bird doing something like that! Great series Babsje!
Hi Wayne – there you go being right again: that was one very lucky Dragonfly. And no self-respecting Hummingbird would chance it!
Imagine a Hummer landing on the top of a Blues head and they both are looking at each other! What a shot that would be and it probably would make the Blue cross eyed!
Big smiles at that imagery, thanks Wayne. So you have both Hummingbirds and Herons there and a camera, hint hint hint!
Good news for your eye procedures being less needed.
Love that dragonfly on the heron’s beak! Smile for the day! 🙂
Thanks so much for the well wishes about my eyesight! And I’m happy that the photos brought you a Saturday smile. 😊
🙂 🙂
Great captures
Hi Rebecca – so glad you appreciate them, thanks!
The cheek of those dragonflies, Babsje! When they appear near me, they come close but not too close… mind you, if I had a long beak, I can see them landing on that, too! 🤣
Great photos.
Hi Tom – thanks, they are cheeky! Brazen actually. Every so often the Dragonfly loses and becomes lunch for the Heron, of course. And occasionally the Heron makes a face and you can just imagine it saying “Yuck, ptooey!”
Your love of Nature has clearly given you opportunities for capturing such moments with your photography expertise. May your eye surgeries happen soon and go well. Many see and appreciate Nature through you. 🤩😍🤗💕✨
Thank you very much for the lovely, warm comment! I have been blessed to enjoy Nature, and also blessed to be getting good medical care for my poor eyesight. Many thanks for your well wishes! 😊
Gorgeous photos 😀 😀
Thanks so much, Cee – you say the nicest things! 😊
Amazing photos. I love dragonflies for many reasons — their beauty is one — but the biggest is they eat deer flies.
Hi Martha – thanks for your kind compliment. I’m with you about Dragonflies – they are incredibly beautiful and I have several pieces of art featuring them. We don’t have deer flies but I imagine it’s a boon that they are on the Dragonfly menu!
Deer flies are evidence of hell. They might themselves BE hell. Sometime when you have nothing better to do… https://marthakennedy.wordpress.com/2022/08/21/deer-fly/
Oh my goodness, I see what you mean! They are hell. Great post about them, thanks.
The worst part is their bite doesn’t immediately hurt. Bastards.
I can’t even imagine, although we have Black Flies in New England which are the pits. Vacationing in New Hampshire when I was 8 years old, I got a dozen black fly bites and every single one of them got infected. Way to ruin an August vacation what with not being allowed to go swimming. But that’s nothing compared to your devil insects.
I think black flies are worse… What a nightmare, a dozen infect black flies bites. Shudder. The bugs will arrive in June and my walks in the Refuge will be relegated to windy evenings. Wind is the only way to deal with the deer flies and mosquitoes. But the light is beautiful. 💚
Yep, that was a biblical plague of boils vacation. You’re right about how wind helps. And also about the light on sweet June evenings – with an added bonus of fireflies!
There is ONE place in the San Luis Valley that has fireflies; it’s a hot springs north and east of me on a small fissure in the Sangre de Cristos.
https://www.outtherecolorado.com/things-to-do/valley-view-hot-springs/article_554b39b7-fcda-5c92-a45f-e8cf546966ba.html
I love them — as a kid in Nebraska (lived there six years) my brother and I chased fireflies in the woods along the Missouri. They turn night into a miracle.
Thanks for that link – they sure can be magical. I have noticed a decline here in recent years – they were so abundant during my childhood in Pennsylvania. About 10 summers ago I tried to capture them with my old 35mm film camera: https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/warm-hearted-orbs-that-rule-the-night/ I bet you can do that some summer night – or even paint them?
That’s a wonderful post. Sometimes I think of my life and all the moments of unrepeatable random beauty and I’m just in awe of my own existence. Multiply that by all the people who’ve ever lived on the earth, even those whose lives have been difficult, scary, those moments are still there. Fireflies.
Thank you. I love your phrasing: “…moments of unrepeatable random beauty.”
Silly nonsense indeed! What fun! Woodpeckers are hitting the hummingbird feeders I put up. Now that is a silly sight to see.
Hi Jonell – oh poor misguided Woodpeckers! That must be quite a sight! Camera-worthy actually. Glad you enjoyed my silly nonsense. Thanks.
Cool photos! It’s amazing,the way the dragonfly does seem to be teasing the heron.
Hi T.W. you got it exactly right! Sure looks like teasing to me, too. Thanks for your fun comment.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 I mean how did you even spot this. Well done as usual 🙌🏾
Hi Drexel – many thanks for your enthusiastic comment. Glad you enjoy the face-off. Once again, a case of right place & right time & WITH a camera. And btw, I like your recent Milky Way post!
You’re definitely in those right places in the right times, with a camera 😊.
Thank you very much.
Hi Drexel – you’re welcome! Being on the lake with the Herons is a slice of heaven. That Dragonfly session was icing on the cake.
I’m actually enthused by your shots to go take some nature shots. I actually used to do animals but Astro took over 🙈
Go for it, Drexel! Curiously, I did astro, myself, before I saw (and got hooked) by the first of the Great Blue Herons! Turnabout is fair play, as they say. Good luck.
Lol well I can’t say it will trump astro but it will definitely give me some things to do during the day 🙈
You’re going to be burning the candle at both ends – night sky vs daylight skies. Plus the gear for animal shoots must weigh less than your astro setups? And the wildlife is many light years closer! Have fun.
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Are you on social media platform so I can share some of nature shots with you?
Hi Drexel – that would be cool, thanks. I think you can find my email addy if WordPress sends you email notifications when I like or comment? You could email me the social account you use?
A ha ha ha…. I can’t say I’m sad our Heron didn’t get the catch! 😉
Happy May, my dear Babsje! xoxo
Happy May Day to you, too, Marina, thanks! I’m with you, glad the plucky Dragonfly didn’t become lunch for the Heron. 😊
😉 👍 xoxo
Big smiles of thanks, Marina! 😊 🙏
❤️😘
A brilliant sequence of photos! Good luck with the laser surgery 🙂
Hi there – I’m so glad you appreciated this lighthearted post, and many thanks for your comment of thoughtful well wishes!
Babs, how can you be nearly blind and take such amazing pictures? And your sense of humor is the perfect compliment to those adorable dragonfly/heron pics. I wish you the best and will pray for your eyes and surgery. I had laser surgery about 15 years ago. I’m so grateful for it.
Hi Marsha – many thanks for your thoughtful comment and well wishes. This post was a repeat that I consolidated from 3 earlier posts – and so I didn’t just recently capture those photos. I can’t see well enough to be behind a camera lens just yet, but I could copy/paste in the WordPress editor, although it was a painstakingly slow process. I have had 6 eye surgeries already, and the next two will bring the total to 8. I’m grateful to be living in this age and time, with options that didn’t even exist 50 years ago! Thanks again for your encouragement.
Wow, that’s way too many surgeries to endure on your eyes!!!! I had about that many on my legs to remove blood clots, and I got pretty tired of them. However, like you I’m so grateful to be living now and not being old 50 years ago! 🙂
Thanks again, Marsha. My first was around age 6, so I have a few rodeos under my belt. You and I are very lucky indeed.
Very lucky. I’m sorry you had to start so young. I started out life with a double cleft lip, which meant surgery at birth. (Don’t remember a thing). I took it for granted. Now when I see other children who have had that surgery, I am so grateful that mine was done early and I never had to suffer with the effects of having it. Even back in the old days, surgery was often a godsend, and in my case, that is true.
Hi Marsha – isn’t it wonderful that you didn’t remember any pain and that it was so successful for you!
Like you said, we are very lucky!
What a series of moments to be privy to! Fantastic – especially the three photos shown together. Great work, Babsje. :-)!
Thanks so much, Lynn, I pleased that you enjoyed my silly nonsense. You know, the tongue of a Heron extends the full length of that bill. All the Blue needed to do was open his jaw an inch and then…slurp…and with one flick of that tongue the Dragonfly would have been a goner! I was rooting for the Dragonfly, but please don’t tell Heron.
🙂
A clever combo, the heron and the dragonfly.
Hi Steve – thanks for saying that. The Heron sometimes wins, the Dragonfly at other times. One earlier photos of a Heron having caught the Dragonfly is titled “Yuck Ptooey.” You can imagine the grimace on the Heron’s face.
Great captures . This first shot was so amazing. Thanks Anita
Hi Anita – many thanks for your kind compliment. I’m pleased that you enjoyed that lead photo. It’s one of my own favorite experiences on the lake.
Thanks for sharing this amazing image. Anita
Hi Anita – you’re welcome and I’m so glad you enjoyed this post!
Thanks for sharing this amazing image.
Hi Anita – you say the nicest things, thank you! 😊
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Hi Christine – thanks so much for your hearts, what a lovely comment! I’m happy that you enjoy the Heron and Dragonfly.
Hi Babsje, thanks for thinking of me when posting these amazing heron and dragonfly photos. I love the trio of images and I do hear the Nah nah nah nah…. Carol
Hi Carol – you’re welcome and I’m so happy that you can hear the man nah nah boo-boo singsong refrain! I enjoy your art posts, as well as the trios series, btw.
Fun silly photos of the herons this week. and hooray for the updated news on your surgeries.
Thanks so much!
Babsje, what a light hearted and fun post! I had to chuckle a few times seeing the heron and dragonfly try to out smart each other and I love your pictures!! Am sure you will do well after your upcoming eye surgeries and a relief to have all of this behind you. Take care!😊
Hi Sylvia – many thanks for saying that – I’m glad to have brought a few chuckles. I was secretly rooting for the Dragonfly all along, but please don’t tell the Heron that – I would never live down being branded as disloyal. And thanks also for your thoughtful well wishes for my eyes. I am so eager to be able to get back out in the field with Nature. 😊
Great capture!
It must be the toughest click, I guess!
Thank you, for sharing.
Hi there – I’m happy to know that you enjoyed the Dragonfly reading that Great Blue Heron, thanks for your kind words! It was a fun day out in the cove watching them.
You are welcome, my friend.
My goodness! What fabulous shots!
Hi Margaret – many thanks for your lovely compliment on the Heron and Dragonfly. It was a fun experience and I’m glad you enjoyed the photos!
Nearly as much as actually being there!
Thanks again, Margaret. I’m happy to be able to share the second-hand experience with you, even if it’s not quite the same as being there real-time! I appreciate your kind words.
The heron looks more quizzical than hungry with that dragonfly perched on its bill. Perfect poetic find too for the image…very cute.
Hi Judy. I think you’re right! Quizzical. Because of the positioning of the Herons eyes in their skull, they cannot make their eyes look cross-eyed, but if they could do that, I’m sure this guy would be absolutely cross-eyed. There’s something about the interplay between Herons and Dragonflies that captivates me. Surely they can’t be more than a tasty morsel to the Heron – not even sufficient for a hearty appetizer! Glad you enjoyed this one.
I sure did. Yeah, plus it is probably a no go for the heron to reach out and just brush the insect off. I sympathize with birds sometimes when I see insects on them in hard to reach places like a tick on the neck of a heron or something. Preening gets rid of the reachable ones and I read that the wingspread sunning position helps heat up the body so pests are put into motion and easier to preen away. Guess every species has its way to self care?
You’re right again about preening and au bathing to help. If Herons were less solitary they could even take advantage of allopreening each other. My favorite ever Heron vs Dragonfly photo shows the victorious Heron with an expression on its face that clearly says “Yuck, ptooey”, sticking out its tongue to reveal a huge Dragonfly. Too funny.
‘Now, where did I leave my glasses . . .”
I like that quote.
Hi Andrew – so glad to hear it. I’m sure we’ve all had our moments like that – at least I have, literally with my sunglasses on top of my head! 😎