I spent most of my time looking for birds during a trip last week to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and I managed to capture the images of the bald eagles that I featured yesterday. The day had started off cool and overcast, more suitable for birds than for dragonflies, but when the sun finally broke through in the late afternoon, I decided to swing by a small pond on my walk back to the parking lot on the off chance that I might find a dragonfly.
My hunch paid off when I spotted this female Ashy Clubtail dragonfly (Phanogomphus lividus) perched low to the ground. At that moment I had my Tamron 150-600mm lens attached to my camera and that presented a challenge, because its minimum focusing distance is 8.9 feet (2.70 meters), so I had to back up. At that distance it is hard to locate and focus on a subject that is only 2 inches (50 mm) in length. Fortunately I have been in this situation before and I steadied myself, focused manually, and captured the first image before the dragonfly flew away.
Having established that there there was at least one dragonfly in the area, I switched to my Tamron 180mm macro lens, my preferred lens for dragonflies, and continued my search. A few minutes later I spotted another female Ashy Clubtail when it flew up into some low hanging vegetation and I captured the second image. There is a good chance that this was the same individual that I photographed earlier—both of them are pale in color, suggesting that they had only recently emerged from their larval state.
As I moved a little closer for the final shot, the dragonfly closed its wings overhead, reverting briefly to an earlier stage when it was in the process of emerging. I have seen this happen before when a newly emerged dragonfly, sometimes referred to as a teneral, flew for the first time and its wings were still in a very fragile state. At this point, I decided to stop shooting, fearful that I might spook this newly emerged dragonfly into flying at a time when she clearly needed to rest.
If you are unfamiliar with the amazing process that a dragonfly goes through in transforming itself from a water-dwelling nymph to an aerial acrobat, check out my blog posting called Metamorphosis of a dragonfly that documents the entire process in a series of photos.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice Mike! Can not wait for Dragonflies to show up here!
Mike are you sure she did not realize she was on poison ivy ? That makes me fold up too away from the ivy. Great images. I was wondering about the time it took from fully extended wings until dry and ready to fly. It still seems amazing that it only takes 6 minutes until dry and flight ready. Considering the wing beats and the maneuvers of dragonfly flight compared to butterflys and moths. Dragonflies are like super turbo powered four propeller drones. Thanks
I am a little more worried that I did not notice she was on poison ivy. Yikes. I suspect that it takes a bit longer for a dragonfly’s wings to fully dry, but they are capable, I believe, of short flights before they reach their optimal condition. Dragonflies are really vulnerable to predators and atmospheric influences (like the wind) when they are emerging and I think they will try to get to more sheltered locations as soon as they can fly even a little bit.
Wonderful photos of the ashy clubtail dragonfly, Mike. Interesting that the pale color can indicate they are newly emerged. The poison ivy looks newly emerged too. Springtime has its surprises….
Thanks, Jet. When dragonflies first emerge, they kind of all look pretty similar. It takes some time for therm to acquire the distinctive markings and colors that allow me to identify their species, sometimes as much as a couple of days. Here is a link to a pretty good description of the changes that take place over what can be as much as 3 to 4 hours for a large species. http://www.newforestexplorersguide.co.uk/wildlife/dragonflies/emergence.html
Mike, thanks so much for this link. Well-documented and -described metamorphosis. Fascinating.
You are so welcome, Jet. I don’t really think of my blog as being an educational one, but I learn so many cool things about my subjects that I feel compelled to share. I know that you often use your blog postings in a similar way to help open readers’ eyes to the amazing beauty that is all around us, whether we are at home or traveling to exotic locations. I suspect that you miss traveling as much as I do, or maybe even more. 🙂
Yes, I do like to share the marvels of nature, like you Mike. I think the more of us who see and experience wilderness, the more chance we have of keeping wilderness intact on our planet. I saw my first darner of the season last week on the trail and I thought instantly of you, Mike. Cheers.
Very nice work, Mike. I’m not sure I would have seen the dragonfly in that second scene.
Thanks, Dan. When I am in target acquisition mode, I am really sensitive to shapes and colors, though most often it is movement that helps me to detect subjects. With dragonflies, sunlight reflecting off of the shiny wings often gives away their locations.
Love that color combination.
The new shiny wings are splendid!
The wings really are so shiny and clear when they are new, reminding me of the plastic film with which I cover food when I store it or reheat it in the microwave.