Good morning everyone, I have one guess and only because a few years back about this time of year, maybe a little earlier a neighbor of mine had hundreds of these around and in her house. The color red mean anything?

Annette

Red, among other colors...lots of variety.

It is fun watching the three idiots darting around the yard. Koda is so darn fast it takes my breath away and he is full of energy, so he puts on a burst of speed, stops on a dime, and changes direction in a flash in search of prey. Happily, not a squirrel to be seen out there today. He did catch a bird once. I hated that.

The birds are hitting the feeders more these days. Guess they feel safe now that winter is upon us.

Cynthia

Oooh, there is a memory somewhere back in my brain....struggling to the surface. Not sure, a clue or two might pry it loose!!

Nancy.

My memory, and red, makes me think of little things....

Nancy.

I have started decorating. So much fun. I picked up our pre-ordered tickets for The Hobbit. I can't wait, but I find myself looking forward to the second one already, too! I imagine Jackson will do an amazing job with Smaug and if he follows the book, that character won't appear in the first installment.

Back to decorating.

:)

Oh, oh, methinks I was on the wrong track, I was thinking ladybugs but now I'm thinking, as well as red, they come in other colors, we see them hovering over our goldfish pool in the summer :).

Annette

Annette - I was thinking ladybugs too, but was confused cause I thought they overwintered in leaf litter - yet another reason not to clean the yard up completely.;-))

Hovering you say, well that leads me in another direction. Might the knights of old been familiar with part of the name?

Nancy.

I'm getting nothing on my own, but having a good time following Nancy and Annette's good thoughts.

I have to come up with supper tonight, so I need to devote some thought to that pretty soon. We eat vegan meals with no added oils, so that narrows the field a lot. DW is good at this, but me not so much.

TM

Their hunting behavior is marked by incredible dexterity of movement in the air. It is described in the article we read as the ability to put on a "burst of speed, stop on a dime, hover, fly backward, and switch direction in a flash." They kill their prey in the air and eat it on the wing (sorry, TM, they are fierce carnivores). These skills led to the term for their hunting behavior.

TM, I just found a yummy recipe for white bean soup with chive oil. I will look to see if it seems vegan. I am very impressed. That is not an easy way to eat or cook, but very healthy, I think. I am not there yet. Probably never will be. *sigh*

Cynthia

Oh, I'll never be vegan - actually, on South Beach, it's mostly protein and veg - meat, that is and lots of green beans and squash in my case. Salads at lunch. Darting off now, in my colourful way!!

Nancy.

They're like little helicopters flitting about, right?

That's what I've always called them...;-))

Nancy.

The clues lead me to think of an irrediscent insect. Could the hunting term be darting? No idea what the mouth and eating apparatus looks like. Never thought about the name indicating they are fierce as they always look so docile and will often stay in the area even when I am working nearby.

Looking forward to seeing The Hobbit. Pulled out my book to read before we go. Saw Lincoln, which was excellent, yesterday.

I've been outside finishing up yard work and have just sat dawn to read your postings. Wonder if I will be able to get up again. Ha, ha. DH has called me to dinner, off I go.

Wow, so those little guys migrate, huh? I did not know that. Has anyone ever heard of them being called darning needles?

TM

We saw Lincoln also and agree with you-excellent.

The term related to hunting behavior borrows a name from another hunter, often a migrator as well. Our song birds disappear from the feeders twice a year during migration season.

See you in the morning everyone. Will bestow your stars then, although you have certainly earned them already. Well played, all.

Cynthia

I always called the little ones darning needles; the big ones were helicopters - Sikorsky's in fact!! lol.

Nancy.

**** for Annette, Nancy, Bobbie, and TM for identifying dragonflies as the creature that was spotted in swarms in NYC during their migration this year. Michael May, an entomologist at Rutgers University said that in all the years he has been looking, he has only seen one mass dragonfly migration and that was in northern Florida. This year, green darners were spotted at the Verrazano Bridge coming out of Brooklyn and all over Prospect Park. Thousands were moving through the Long Meadow there . This was the first big migration ever reported in NYC according to May, who missed it.

The term for their hunting behavior is hawking. They feed on aerial plankton such as mosquitoes, moths, ballooning spiders, flies, and midges. Green darners never attack people, but according to the article by Richard Preston, they do bring down hummingbirds!

The article is on pages 40 and 42 in the December 3 issue of "The New Yorker" and is a short, fun read.

Thanks for playing. Have a wonderful week.

Cynthia

Thanks for the stars, Cynthia, though all I really did is hop on the bandwagon as it went by. I've always thought that dragonflies were very cool, and a little bit scary. I found a fun little video that shows them flying in slow motion.

Great question and answer.

TM

Here is a link that might be useful: Dragonflies.

Great video TM, I knew Ladybugs swarmed but didn't know that about Dragonflies. It was Cyn's clue 'Smaug' that clued me in.
It was quite a sight seeing all the hundreds, maybe thousands of ladybugs in and on my neighbor's house. Haven't seen anything like it since, it was quite a sight.

Annette

TM, that was a great link - thanks for sharing!! Oddly enough Cyn, I am writing a story about a boat named Dragonfly!! Great question - thanks.

Nancy.

I was just going through my photo album and found this pic of a dragonfly on my porcelain vine.

Pretty cool. His wings look a little beat up.

TM

Loved the video! I hadn't thought about controlling each set of wings independently which makes for great maneuverability.
Great question.
Nice close up, Annette.