Darner dragonfly photographed by Jeff Zablow at Mt. Meron, Israel

Find me one, one experienced nature photographer who passes a posing darner, poised on a twig or dried flowerhead. It just cannot be done. OK, sometimes we pause to get a look, then continue on the trail, reluctant to use time, good light or for me, film.

My experience once you make that brief stop? 90% of the darners and their closely related species flee, before you have a chance to get a good look, or try for a decent exposure. That contributes to future greater and greater reluctance to give darners serious attention.

All that shared, a shmeksy! darner represents a Challenge! If you enjoyed baseball, football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, boxing, knitting, sewing, painting, tinkering, building scooters from wooden fruit cartons (Brooklyn, NY), then you understand why I Stopped! and followed my Technique protocol, on that trail on Mt. Meron, 7,000 miles from my Pittsburgh home.

We have been visited by friends in more than 85 countries. Is this darner limited solely to Israel, to the Middle East at large, Asia and/or Africa, Europe?

Maybe we will be offered info from here and there.

Jeff