So I am walking--suddenly this butterfly lands at my feet. Curious behaivor I thought. I take a shot of it (1st one in series). But the butterfly will not leave & I'm tiring of being its resting place. My restlessness goads the butterfly to move on, but it stays close to me. I sense something odd, and temporarily lose sight of the butterfly---then I hear a light thud, followed by rapid flapping of wings on the ground--I look and see the butterfly wrestling for its life (2nd one in series) with a dragonfly.

After only a few seconds, the dragonfly emerges on top, its mouth in a deathgrip on the butterfly's head, and its thorned, spiny legs spread equidistant over the butterfly's wingspread to limit any further movement. Unexpectedly, the dragonfly manages the herculean strength to lug this butterfly up to the nearest tree: it took many seconds, with the dragonfly's wings at full speed, for the drangonfly to bring this butterfly up to a tree, about 10ft off the ground (3rd pic in series). I follow, stand on my tippy toes, stretching every bit of reach I can out of my 90mm lens to capture the dragonfly dining. The wind is blowing, the light is great diminished in the canopy of the leaves, and I look down to see I am standing in the middle of a poison ivy patch. Nonetheless I patiently stand, waiting for the wind to arrange the leaves and branches just right so I can manage an in-focus shot---(pics 4 & 5 in the series) reflect my best efforts. Pic 5 shows the dragonfly as it somehow manages to begin the inhaling of the butterfly process. Sorry about the lengthy discussion; I don't think the pics would stand so well without the commentary.

[Jewelltrail]

OrenMc Cool stuff to be able to see and capture something like this. That close-up is amazing.

Thanks I suspect the Dragonfly went for a bath after dinner--you can see the various debris on it from its ground struggle.

mie17 amazing!

I agree!

[Jimbo]

Thank you, I know not everyone appreciates it, so it's nice to know when someone does.

Too funny Gary!

Great Marco's Jewelltrail. Need to give that a try one day. JIM

[Marc Langille]

#4 is a great closeup! Nice documentary of the predator hunting the prey...

[Jewelltrail]

Marc Langille #4 is a great closeup! Nice documentary of the predator hunting the prey...

Thank you Marc!

Jimbo: Too funny Gary!

Great Marco's Jewelltrail. Need to give that a try one day. JIM

Thanks Jim! Speaking of the Gary, I remember a hilarious post he made once which certainly was not appreciated by the OP. OP was asking whether he should upgrade to the K20, but the consensus in the thread was the OP needed to learn more about photography first. However, nobody really came out and said this to the OP. However, Gary, in his unique style, replied with words very close to these:

"Please do not upgrade---upgrading to the the K20 may exaggerate your bad technique." LOL