Dragonhunter dragonflies (Hagenius brevistylus) love to perch and wait for their prey to come by and then use their powerful back legs to snag that prey, which is often another dragonfly. Those legs are so long and ungainly, though, that Dragonhunters’ poses often seem awkward when they are perched—they remind me of teenage males who have undergone a recent growth spurt and haven’t gotten used to their longer limbs.
Last Friday as I was exploring a stream at Prince William Forest Park with fellow blogger and dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford, he spotted this female Dragonhunter perched at the edge of the water. I was walking toward him when I spotted the Dragonhunter on the rocks that I featured yesterday and was delayed in getting to see this dragonfly. Fortunately, she was relatively tolerant of our presence and remained in place long enough for me to get some shots.
All of the images that I captured show a side view of the Dragonhunter, because she was facing toward the water and I was trying not to get wet. Walter, however, wanted more of a frontal view and waded into the water to get that shot. Check out today’s posting on his blog and you can compare the results of our different approaches.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That is a lot of leg. I like Walter’s photo, but I’m not sure about wading in to get it.
It’s a tough call. Even though I am reluctant to walk in the water, my feet often get wet because I hang out in marshy areas where the ground is frequently not as solid as it looks. Although in theory it would make sense to wear waders or rubber boots, they would not be practical when we are walking over miles of trails to get to our target areas.
At my age, I stumble a lot and that’s just what happened with your blog – stumbled across it while researching dragon identification.
Very nice post and photograph! I’ve not seen this species here in central Florida and may have to move a bit north of where I live, but will make an effort to find it.
Now, another cup of coffee while I enjoy catching up on your previous posts …
I am not really an expert on dragonflies, but I must confess that during the summer they are my favorite subjects. In the winter I switch to birds mostly. My favorite site for dragonflies is http://www.dragonfliesnva.com/ . Although it is focused on Northern Virginia, where I live, I think that most of it applies as well to Florida.
Nice Mike! Always enjoy seeing your dragonfly images!
Thanks, Reed.
Nice parallel shot, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. I give credit to my subject for the pose. 🙂
A good model makes imaging much easier. But we still need the technique to pull it off.