Dragonhunters return to stream

The first Dragonhunter—the uber-predator of odonates—arrived more than two weeks ago, but ever since I spotted the dragonfly eater perched on an old bench near my garden, Hagenius brevistylus has not been seen since. And it's not for my lack of trying. I have visited the bottom of the millpond falls—the place I've observed it right about now for the past few years—almost every day since that sighting, and every day, I've come home disappointed. But a little past noon today, as I looked down the sun-dappled stream, I saw a familiar sight moving slowly and steadily upstream. The heavy-bodied odonate was flying with its club-tailed abdomen curled downward, perhaps to improve its balance, and every so often, it would dart after a Slaty Skimmer or a Pondhawk. It was telling the two species that had been the top dogs among dragonflies that their reign of terror was over. They were now on the menu. Be afraid. Be very afraid.