Wowee! A Blue Eyed Darner Damselfly

I stepped out to the patio late this afternoon, and immediately a damselfly buzzed past my head.

Several of these have been flying around the garden for the past week, but until today none of them rested anywhere for me to get a closer look at them.

I assumed that they were Flame Skimmers Libellula saturata, because those are the only large damselflies that visited the patio in the past.

Oh, but this one, a Blue Eyed Darner damselfly Rhionaeschna multicolor, is absolutely beautiful and measures 3 inches long.

It rested for a quarter of an hour, in the sun on the drying blackberry blossom, before it zipped around the patio again.

This Western United States native lives near slow moving streams, lakes and ponds.

Dragonflies and damselflies are at risk due to the decline of freshwater systems.

The only fresh water we have around our garden is a bird bath near the patio. The bath is cleaned several times a week, and contains clean filtered water.

Maybe that's a reason for the damselfly and skimmer visits every autumn.

The Blue eyed Damer is the top predator in ponds that lack fish.

Their larvae feeds on mosquito and mayfly larvae.

These damselflies can fly up to mph 50 per hour and have 360 degree vision.

I hope we'll see at least one of them again.