Despite its name, the Common Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura), one of the first dragonflies of the spring, has been observed only infrequently at my local marshland park. Therefore I was pretty excited when sharp-eyed fellow blogger and photographer Walter Sanford spotted a Common Baskettail last week when we were out together searching for dragonflies.
Walter consulted with some experts and was able to confirm his initial identification of this dragonfly as a female. How do you tell the gender of a dragonfly? Check out Walter’s recent posting What was your first clue? to learn how he did it.
If you are more interested in photography than in dragonfly anatomy, check out Walter’s initial posting on the Common Baskettail dragonfly. We both photographed the dragonfly at the same time, but our angles of view and equipment were different, so the resulting images are similar, but not identical.
Personally i enjoy seeing how the creative choices that a photographer makes can influence their images. Walter and I have done several complementary postings in the past and will probably continue to do so in the future.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
At first, quick glance, I read this as “Basketball” not “Baskettail” – but I thought it made sense because of the coloring ;D Wonderful detail!
Thanks. I have a certain amount of experience with the common basketball, since it was my favorite sport to play when I was younger.
LOL
Looking at their wings never gets old Mike. I think this might be the first shot this season. Either that or I was moving too fast.
This was one of the earliest shots this year. I did see a pair of migratory Common Green Darners and then saw a Springtime Darner. However, dragonflies are still very uncommon during April.
Thanks for the kind words, Mike! I see you had a much better view than me — good photo, buddy! That said, from your perspective I wouldn’t have had a clue this baskettail is female.
I thot you were working on renaming all these “common” critters!
I haven’t yet gotten momentum behind our movement. It’ll have to remain a long-term goal at present. 🙂
Reblogged this on walter sanford's photoblog and commented:
Another view of the same Common Baskettail dragonfly, as seen from a slightly different viewpoint. Good photo, Mike!
That’s a great shot. Dead sharp and lots of wing detail.
The image is spectacular and the information is excellent…Such a great post.
Thanks, Charlie.
[…] blur, but you can see some of the beautiful details and colors of the dragonfly. (Check out a recent posting that I did to see an image of a perching Common Baskettail dragonfly at my local marshland park in […]