This friendly dragonfly hung out with me all day on a deserted island off of Guard’s Shore beach, in Virginia. We spent four days and nights camping on this island. It was a lot of fun, but there are about 12 different types of biting flies here and they mean business! Needless to say, the trip was over when we ran out of bug spray! The citronella oil in the tiki torches really didn’t do much. Eastern Shore bugs are seemingly immune to most bug repellents. Cutter Deep Woods is all we’ve found effective here.
I miss outdoor camping especially in the mountains. Also I miss flying insects like dragonflies which I used to catch when I wasa kid. What a picture you have. It’s nice.
Thank you so very much, Nocturnal! Sounds like you need a good camping trip on Virginia’s Eastern Shore! 😉
How I wish I could. I love it. ❤
Lovely photo. I like butterflies and dragonflies, but not flies that bite or sting. I especially don’t like aggressive bees and wasps.
Thank you so very much, Barbara! I absolutely agree. I’m allergic to bees and wasps are horrible!
It is sooo beautiful. I almost missed the dragonfly and had to go back to look for it.
Thank you much, Della 🙂 The dragonfly was my whole reason for taking the photo. I love dragonflies, always have since I was a child.
Lovely photograph, it’s a very pretty shot!!
Thank you, MommyofEli! 🙂 It was an awesome trip!
Lovely capture! The color of the water is amazing!
Thank you so very much, Ellie! This is considered Beasley Bay in Virginia.
Very cute picture, Windy
Thank you very much, Thomas! I adore dragonflies, butterflies and ladybugs!
Camping on such a deserted island must have brought inspiration, including all those biting flies! Ha ha ha… and that picture is awesome!
Thank you so very much, Albert! Yes, those biting flies were inspiration to run out of the water and into the tent as fast as I possibly could when I was done swimming lol Along with the deserted island, came a super full moon and swimming with baby jellyfish that glowed under the moon’s light. It was AMAZING! 😀
See! You have a lot of memorable stories to say…!
Thank you, Albert 🙂 You’re awesome! <3 I love inspiring people! 😀 It is something we all need sometimes!
Thanks to your appreciation now I am flying high along with dragonflies, biting flies, butterflies, and ladybugs
I’m glad to hear it my friend! 😀 Some of us were born to have our feet off the ground 😉 <3 <3 <3
Most likely all of us, if we could wake them all up 😉
…and I’m so sure you can do it!
It’s definitely going to take more than me lol I’ve been working at it for years now. Thank you for having faith in me, Albert <3 That means more to me than you know!
How wonderful you are with all your hard work! Pleasure is mine, Windy
This branch with this dragonfly is decorated with decor
Thank you, Iacho! The island was just awesome all the way around. At every twist and turn, there was something more to see 🙂
A stunning view, it is really beautiful Windy. Great camping spot.
I would not have seen the dragonfly had you not mentioned it.
Great shot!
Thank you so very much, Carol! He/she stayed with me for pretty much the entire trip. I greatly enjoy the presence 🙂
That could be a sign (in my world). 🙂
I think so, too, Carol 😉
Well done! Nice post!
Thank you, Georgi! It’s a pleasure to meet you!
Oh, I’m very familiar with the Eastern Shore horseflies. There is no bug spray that works against them, or the much larger Cow-flies. I hear #8 shot does!
Cutter Deep Woods, but you have to reapply VERY often especially when you’re sweating it off in 90 to 100 degree weather or swimming to stay cool during the daytime hours. lol Or, yeah, #8 shot ;P
What a wonderful place to camp though, a deserted island. Bring a box of deep woods off! lol I got a taste of the biting flies in Gulf Breeze Florida. They love me! I tried everything before I resorted to the deep woods off. Then it would only last about two hours. The darn things would get stuck in the oil on my skin. hahaha. We don’t have them here, but our ants will make up for them. You have the fire ants, we have the harvester ant. But as far as bugs we don’t have many pests. Everything in the desert will poke, stick or stiing, we have a lot of those.
Oh, yes, it was a grand adventure, Kim, especially with my very nutty camp buddy lol It was a super full moon and peak baby jellyfish season so I was rewarded for getting eat up by many, many bugs with the experience of swimming in the bay with baby jellyfish lighting up all around me with the light of the biggest, brightest moon I’ve ever seen! It was so worth it! 🙂 You’re exactly right! Reapplication of the Deep Woods is a constant, especially in more humid environments where these bugs live and thrive anyway. Cacti are lethal, but beautiful! Here, our equivalent to that would be the notorious sticker briar bushes. They’ll reach out and hold you hostage!
Oh that sounds so wonderful. I love to swim baby jelly fish sound cool and you didn’t get stung? I have heard of the… um.. the lice stage?
Bug Spray is well worth the effort to enjoy this it sounds.
Nope, didn’t get stung once and they were everywhere, all over me, lit up like lightning bugs 🙂 I think a little later in the season they begin stinging a little and then more and more; but at the beginning they don’t sting at all. I agree. I would deal with the bugs again to get the chance!
Beautiful! Does this Island have a name?
Thank you so very much, Jason! I’ve heard it called both Job and Jacob’s Island. I’ve been there several times. It is just a canoe trip away from Ann’s Cove and Guard’s Shore. Rowing out of Ann’s Cove is the fastest, easiest route. Be prepared for horse flies that can pick you and carry you away though!