On Monday, I finally captured my first dragonfly shots of the season at Huntley Meadows Park, a recently emerged Common Basketttail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura). For a couple of weeks I’ve been periodically seeing migrating Common Green Darners, but this is the first “native-born” dragonfly I have spotted.
The dragonfly is in a juvenile stage known as “teneral,” which initially confused me when I was trying to identify it. I looked through a lot of photos on the internet and they didn’t quite match up with some of the markings of “my” dragonfly.
Fortunately an expert came to the rescue when I posted the photos on the Northeast Odonata Facebook page and asked for help. Ed Lam, who literally wrote the book on odonata in the Northeast, replied that, “It’s a Common. It’s teneral so the stigmas and the hind wing patch will darken as it matures.” You can check out Ed’s book, Damselflies of the Northeast: A Guide to the Species of Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States, on Amazon.
From my perspective, the dragonfly season has now officially opened. It is still really challenging, however, to find them this early, given that most species won’t emerge until much later in the spring and in early summer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It seems very early for dragonflies and it probably is too early here, but they’re tougher than I thought.
Since Monday, we’ve had a number of nights down in the 30’s which is downright inhospitable for dragonflies. Fortunately they are not quite as frail and fragile as they appear.
I was wondering when you’d post your first dragonflies, Mike. Very nice!
Thanks, Chris. You know well of my fascination with dragonflies. I’ve spent quite a bit of time the last couple of weeks searching for my first one and I am really happy to have gotten the bear off of my back by capturing my first images. Now I get to wait with anticipation for new species to appear. As the leaves begin to cover the trees, birds become harder to find, so I’ll be featuring a whole lot more insects.
Your photos are stunning regardless of the age or species!!!!!!
Good catch, Mike! This individual is a male, as indicated by its conspicuous hamules and terminal appendages.
Nice capture, Mike. Your season is so far ahead of ours, and it’s nice to see some real spring critter action. Keep them coming.
You’re way ahead of us here, haven’t seen any dragonfly yet.. but soon I hope. 🙂
I’ve always been fascinated by dragonflies, which my great-grandmother from rural South Carolina called “snake doctors.”
I am completely smitten with dragonflies and spend long hours chasing after them with my camera. There is something almost magical about their amazing eyes and incredible acrobatic flying skill. I grew up in Massachusetts and never heard a dragonfly called a “snake doctor”–I have been told it’s mostly a Southern thing.