Yesterday I spotted this spectacular female Swamp Darner dragonfly (Epiaeschna heros) at Huntley Meadows Park. At almost 3 1/2 inches long (90 mm), Swamp Darners are one of the largest dragonflies in our area.
It was a rare treat for me to capture shots of one perching—usually I see them only in flight. Like most darners, Swamp Darners hand vertically from vegetation, often low to the ground. I was fortunate to see this beautiful dragonfly fly to the perch and it remained there long enough for me to maneuver into position for a clear shot with my long zoom lens. I actually had to pull back from the maximum 600mm focal length of the lens in order to be able to fit the dragonfly’s entire body in the frame.
If you want to get a higher-resolution look at some of the wonderful details of this dragonfly, including the amazing colors of its eyes, be sure to click on the image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
The more of these I see, the more amazed I am by their complexity. If there were really big dragonflies back in the day — like, the pleistocene — they would have been terrifying. I need to find out about that. There were armadillos (called “glyptons”) that were the size of VW beetles, so why not prehistoric dragonflies?
It is beautiful! You never get to see all the details when they are in flight.
fantastic
Stunning, Mike!