June 03, 2014 The Cattails Golf Course at Meadowview Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee I had been in most of the day due to overcast and relatively cool weather. It warmed up a bit this afternoon (it was 74 degrees F when I left the house) so I decided to check out an area on a local golf course that I thought might be good for clubtails. I had walked for about an hour without seeing much at all and had stopped to rest alongside Horse Creek (which runs the length of the course) in a small sandy clearing where the maintenance crew often leaves brush. I was whining to myself about not seeing much when I heard a loud "pop" almost right over my head. I looked up to see a large dragonfly come to rest on a pile of sand. It was a Splendid Clubtail and it had just blasted a male Eastern Pondhawk and was devouring it on top of the sand pile. I watched for a few minutes and then started trying to sneak closer for a couple of photos. I took quite a few before the dragonfly flew up to perch horizontally on some big poison ivy leaves. About 10 minutes later I saw and photographed another individual in the same area (was much greener, but still a Splendid Clubtail). See attached photo of the clubtail and it's prey. Fun stuff! Rick -- Rick Phillips Kingsport, Tennessee
Attachment:
splendid_824.jpg
Description: JPEG image
