Dragonhunter, Millpond stream

When a knight wanted to prove his mettle, one sure-fire test was to go out into the hinterlands to find and slay a dragon. In this day and age, I prefer, when my mettle needs re-proofing, to locate the most ferocious of odonates and "capture," rather than kill, the beast. This afternoon, yet another scorcher, I managed to do just that, when I spotted, flying up the millpond stream, the first of this year's Dragonhunter dragonflies. Hagenius brevistylus is a very large and powerful member of the Clubtail clan, and when the Dragonhunters start appearing on patrol, the rest of the local odonates begin to pay close attention. Suddenly, they could go from hunter to hunted, so increased vigilance is de rigeur to avoid appearing on the Dragonhunter's menu. I start paying closer attention, too—for H. brevistylus photo ops when the predator needs a rest break from the insect's aerial reign of terror.