a Cyclopean eye?

I had a good look at a female Green Darner this morning. She was hanging onto to a leaf by the edge-of-the-marsh path and only a few feet away from me -- just far enough so that I could focus her in the binoculars. Green Darners are easy to spot in flight but much harder to find and observe perched. The thorax was entirely bright green but the abdomen (most people would call it the tail) was entirely brownish (there was no blue which is what makes it a female). The wings were transparent with an amber wash. The most extraordinary feature was the head with a pair of attached compound eyes and a bull's eye mark -- looking like a giant cyclopean eye -- on the forehead.

There were a few butterflies around including a hairstreak or two but I didn't get a good enough look for a positive ID.

The tide was still high and the muddy banks of the pond were covered so there was no activity there. A Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron, perched in the dead trees waiting for the tide to change, made off at my approach with their usual squawks; strange that such beautiful birds should make such ugly sounds! A few swallows and martins continued to hunt rather high over the marsh. Both the Belted Kingfisher and a couple of noisy Green Herons made their respective appearances (the herons were an adult and a young of the year). A Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher was feeding in the dead and half-dead trees along the edge; Goldfinches, House Finches and House Sparrows were active on the marsh edge; otherwise there was little upland activity beyond the usual suspects.

Eric Salzman