I was thrilled last week to stumble upon some Brown Spiketail dragonflies (Cordulegaster bilineata) while I was exploring a stream in Prince William County. When I spotted them, they were patrolling really low, moving in and out of the stalks of the grass and other plants only inches above the ground. I was able to track several of them and capture multiple shots, including an in-flight shot when one of the Brown Spiketails decided to hover momentarily right in front of me.
According to the wonderful website Dragonflies of Northern Virginia, Brown Spiketails are considered “rare” in our area. Their preferred habitat is “clean, small sunlit, forest streams and seepages, ” an almost perfect match for the location where I spotted these dragonflies. The flight season lasts only about six weeks and peaks in mid-May.
Sometimes “my” Brown Spiketails would perch high enough above the ground that I could isolate the dragonfly from the background, as I did in the second image. Most of the time, though, they would perch low on grasses and shrubs, which meant that I too had to get low too to capture images like the third one. The background in that image is somewhat cluttered, but I think that it gives you a good sense of the habitat and the challenge of finding and focusing on such a narrow target.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Beautifully detailed photos Mike!
Thanks, Liz.
Excellent detail !
What a nice find, Mike!
Outstanding photographs.
Increasingly, I have to ask the dragons to perch at eye-level because, lately, getting down in the grass is not a problem, but standing up again ——
(My wife’s mantra: “Getting old is not for sissies!”)
Thanks, Wally. Getting down and getting up is currently not a problem, but I can see a day coming in the future when that might become an issue. I am hoping that I have at least five more “good” years.
Three nice shots but, of course, the inflight is the star. Nicely done, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. I was pretty happy with the in-flight shot. Even with the dragonfly hovering a bit, it was still pretty tough to capture the image.
Very nice series of images Mike! Especially like the in-flight image! I know how hard that is to get!
Thanks, Reed. I need to have a bit of luck to get a good in-flight shot, but I think the fact that I have taken so many shots with the camera/lens combination that I can react pretty quickly and accurately when opportunities present themselves.