Camouflaged dragonfly

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Camouflaged dragonfly

August 28, 2021 by Mike Powell

Common Whitetail dragonflies (Plathemis lydia) often perch flat on the ground, where they are relatively easy to spot. When this pretty little Common Whitetail female decided on Wednesday to perch on the side of a large tree, however, she almost disappeared from sight—the pattern of the light and shadows and the muted tones of the bark and the vegetation growing on the tree served to camouflage her presence almost perfectly.

I really like the limited palette of colors in this image and the relative simplicity of the composition. The rough texture of the bark helps to break up the background of the image and add some visual interest without being overly distracting.

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, female Common Whitetail, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Plathemis lydia, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on August 28, 2021 at 6:46 am | Reply Suzette Benjamin

Amazing. I don’t knew how you spotted that dragonfly. What amazing camouflage provided by the bark. Excellent capture, Mike.
on August 28, 2021 at 7:36 am | Reply Reed Andariese

Very nice Mike! The dragonfly really blends into the background!
on August 28, 2021 at 8:00 am | Reply Michael Sammut

Beautiful dragonfly and interesting camouflage.
- on August 28, 2021 at 8:37 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Michael. The warmer tones of the dragonfly help it to stand out from the more grayish brown of the bark, but the camouflage kind of works. 🙂
on August 28, 2021 at 8:19 am | Reply Patricia M Osborne

Beautiful wings.
on August 28, 2021 at 9:08 am | Reply Dan Antion

That’s remarkable. She blends in so well.
on August 28, 2021 at 11:59 am | Reply Ellen Jennings

Very nice capture, Mike!
- on August 30, 2021 at 7:39 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Ellen.